The Wrong Side of Right
by macaronisofa
Summary: Dedicated to my loving BF Shadow Dragon3221. It falls to the Avengers to come to the rescue when Loki reveals that Doctor Doom has something up his sleeve. But then again...so does Loki. But no one is prepared for the shadow that looms in the distance, and a little black book that may change the fate of all the nine realms. Part 1 of the Little Black Book Trilogy. (LokixWanda)
1. Planning Something

"Ain't that the truth," Tony Stark's voice drifted throughout the large room as he poured himself a drink from the bar. The laughs of his companion's joined his own as they engaged in their usual banter. He leaned heavily against the glass of the bar, the few drinks he had already downed affecting his sense of balance.

But he wasn't drunk...He really wasn't.

He watched Natasha enter the room quietly from the side, her slender form slinking behind the counter of the bar, grabbing herself a drink as well. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye as she situated herself beside him. "Maybe you've had a few too many there, boss." Her smooth voice filtered through his ears. He laughed heartily, turning his gaze toward her, pushing himself up from his leaning position.

"Probably. But then again where is the fun in the party without it?" He paused for a moment to down the rest of his glass, setting it just a little too hard upon the counter, "I mean it's not a real party till' someone gets drunk and does something stupid." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, and watched as Natasha rolled her eyes at him. She sipped her drink as she replied, "I think I'll just have Steve come and get you."

"Oh no! Please, don't tell daddy!" 

Natasha shot him an nasty look as she walked back toward the party, leaving a smirking Tony behind her. The rest of the Avengers sat scattered about the room, filling the entire living space. Thor occupied a large part of the couch, as the rest took spaces like ottomans, recliners, and even the floor. Thor raised his fifth glass in the air for a toast, much to everyone's dismay, "Here's to Midgard, safe once again!"

Thor downed his glass, fully expecting his friends to cheer along with him, but he was puzzled when all he received for moans and groans. "What is wrong, my friends? Are we not to be celebrating the defeat of Ultron?" 

Giggles spread through the room, along with a few more groans, before Banner spoke, speech rather slurred, "Yes, but, we've had like, _four._ _"_

" _Exactly!"_ Clint interrupted, patting Banner on the back in a rather rough manner. Thor laughed as he found the fragility of these mortals rather humorous. In Asgard they celebrated for hours on end, toasting, and feasting, and cheering. Here was much different from his home.

For a moment he felt almost homesick, but really, when he thought about it, there was nothing really left to call home. His mother had been slain by the evil dark elf Malekith, and along with her the elf had taken his precious younger brother Loki, as well. The pain was still fresh in Thor's heart, and he disliked thinking too far into it.

Seeing Loki's staff had been torture enough unto itself. Thor was pulled from his ruminations as Stark sauntered to the group once more, flopping down onto an empty seat beside Thor. "Ah, isn't this great guys?" Tony asked, patting Thor on the shoulder before reaching out and popping a few potato chips into his mouth from a bag on the coffee table. "No evil, crazy, gods, no malfunctioning robots, no...no nothing! Honestly," He motioned to the group as a whole, leaning backward into the couch, "I think I've done great!"

"You?" Natasha asked. "Sure Tony, _you,_ conqueror of all evil! Oh what would we have done without you?"

"Avoided making an evil robot bent on destroying humanity." Banner commented.

"Very true," Tony pointed at Bruce, "He has an excellent point there." Thor laughed amused as he watched this, and turned his head just in time to see Steve enter the room, grabbing Tony gently by the arm, and hauling him to his feet.

He spoke sternly. "Alright guys, party's over. C'mon Tony, I think it's time for bed."

"Oooo, look at this guys, Steve wants to take me to bed!"

Steve just rolled his eyes and lugged a stumbling Tony toward the elevator. He turned back one last time to give everyone a look that said clear out, before taking a very drunk Tony upstairs to his room. The avengers sat in a stunned silence for a few moments, before laughter erupted once more throughout the room.

Their banter continued on for a little while longer, simmering down slowly, and by the time Thor stood from his seat, he and Clint were the only ones left. He bade Barton a farewell before heading upstairs to his own bedroom.

He could not understand why midgardians were so affected by such weak liquor. He always found it amusing to try and see a midgardian drink an asgardian under the table. It was something that their earth bound species was not talented at. Thor entered his dark room quietly, laying heavily on the bed before him. He wished to sleep before his thoughts began to wander to the worst places they could go on such a dark lonely night...The dark reminded him of his brother.

"Thor..."

"Thor!"

"Thor, awaken!"

Thor woke violently from his sleep, sitting up instantly, searching in a frantic way for the source of the voice he _must_ have been hearing. When his searched yielded nothing, his panic lessened. He would recognized the dark silky voice anywhere. By the Norns he could pick it out from a crowd. He had known his brother well.

Thor summed up the strange occurrence as a dream. Although he wished that it had been real. He wished that he could close his eyes, open them, and there Loki and Mother would stand waiting to greet him home...but he knew that it was impossible. The reality that they were out of his grasp forever pounded a stake further into his heart than any blade could reach.

He wiped the sleep from his eyes groggily, squinting against the light that poured in through an open window. He vaguely remembered closing that very same window last night. He stared awkwardly at it for a moment, before pushing his tired limbs out of bed.

 _You should head downstairs to be with the others..._

"I should head downstairs...everyone else is probably awake." He began dressing himself slowly, gazing around the room, trying to remember where it was he had left Mjolnir last night. He shrugged and assumed that she sat on the coffee table, in the same place as yesterday.

He left the room a little more quickly when he heard the voices drift upstairs toward him. He was the last one to enter the room,and his appearance caused a stretch of silence that was not unusual to him. He glanced over to Tony, who looked extremely serious, almost comedicly so, before bursting out in a hoot of laughter.

Thor watched as the giggles spread through the room. What was once curiosity was now a rising annoyance. He was about to speak when Stark raised his voice first. "Seriously, is anyone gonna say something? Because I will."

Steve rolled his eyes, walking briskly over to Thor, "Listen, buddy, don't take this the wrong way but, you have something... _all_ over your face."

"What?" Thor was confused. How could he have gotten something on his face? "What is it?" Captain America shrugged, before sighing, "Something green. Listen if I were you, I'd go wash it off immediately. Trust me," He said, glancing over to Tony, who sat with an absurd smile on his face as he ate another large spoonful of eggs, "You will _never_ hear the end of it."

Thor nodded appreciatively, glancing into the mirror. He was aghast! A sickly green tint covered half of his face, with a large 'L' in a darker green smack dab in the middle of his forehead. He touched it gently, and watched as some of it rubbed off onto his fingertip. Confusion quickly turned to agitation. One of them had to have done this!

"I wonder if he's okay in there?" Tony asked, giggling as he finished off the remainder of his plate.

"Probably. I'm just curious as to how all that got there..." Natasha commented, leaning back in her chair and glancing accusingly at the rest of the room. A long stretch of silence ensued, so she spoke again. "Okay, come on guys fess up. Who wrote LOSER on Thor's forehead?"

"Definatley not me!" Tony added with a wave of is hand as he exited the kitchen with his plate. The rest of the Avengers simply shook their heads or sounded out tired 'nos'. She raised an eyebrow, "Oh come on guys, it was kind of funny. Somebody take the credit."

Once again, nobody spoke. The silence became longer and more uncomfortable as Thor entered the room, face red and angry. His voice boomed louder than the rest, "Who dare defile the face of a Son of Odin?!"

Tony smacked him on the back as he walked past, laughing, "Not us buddy."

"If not anyone of you, then who else could it have possibly been?! There is no one else here you fool!"

As Tony opened his mouth too speak Jarvis visualized on a projection screen. "Someone has past security protocols."

Tony turned to look at Jarvis, a look of confusing spreading across his face. "Protocols? Someone broke in?"  
"That is what it seems like, sir."

"Bring up the security footage from around the tower."

Momentarily various security footage went up to the screen playing through at a fast forward speed. As the camera that monitored the main entrance went through the screen, Thor raised a hand, "Stop! Go back to the previous footage. Slow it down."

Jarvis did as instructed, and Thor watched closely the footage, before pointing at the picture. "There! You see?"Tony raised an eyebrow at Thor, "You sure you're okay buddy? Because there is NOTHING there."

Thor pushed Tony out of the way roughly, taking his place in front of the screen. "Magnify this picture please."

Jarvis did as instructed, magnifying the picture to show nothing but the main entrance door. "Now slow it down a little bit more..." Again Jarvis did as told. And that's when they saw it. The space in front of the door shifted. It was as if the air moved on it's own for a moment, giving it an almost wavy, rainbow like appearance before whatever had caused it was gone. Banner marveled at the revelation, turning to Thor.

"How did you manage to catch such a change in the geological atmosphere?"

"Because my brother was a sorcerer," Thor explained, "It was one of the few ways I could possibly catch him playing tricks. When he would become invisible or something of the sort I noticed once or twice that the space he occupied while it such a state shimmered and moved. Just a little bit, but it was still there."

Banner marveled at this as Thor continued. "But honestly it is not that impressive. I don't usually manage to catch it. Usually I never even see it. Loki was very meticulous."

"So what you're saying is, that someone with magical sorcerer abilities just entered the tower?" Tony asked, voice laced heavily with sarcasm.

"Could it be Loki? We've dealt with him before." Clint offered, sipping from his coffee cup.

"No," Thor was quick to cut them off, an unrelenting anger threatening to consume him completely. The Avengers gazed at him confused, "Why not?" Natasha began, "It's possible, I mean-" Thor cut her off before she could finish her sentence, his voice loud and booming.. "Because my brother is dead!"

Shocked gasps spread throughout the room as he continued, "It occurred during the incident with Malekith and Jane. He died saving my life..."

Natasha was the first to reach out to him, hand brushing along his bicep comfortingly, "We're sorry Thor. That must be hard. You know you could have told us." Thor shrugged her off, opening his mouth in reply but was silenced by a musical tune echoing throughout the room. He gazed around for the source of the sound. "What in the Norns is that?" He questioned.

Tony walked past him with a stupid smile on his face, "Do you like it? It's the new doorbell. I thought it would," he drug out the word, motioning with his arms as he continued toward the elevator, "Add some _color_ the place."

Banner stood shaking his head, as Tony reached out and pressed the button to open the elevator. "Hello and welcome to the Avengers Tower, how may we...assist you...today...?" Tony gawked as the elevator door opened. Loki stood in the middle of the elevator, a nervous smile crossing his face as he glanced around and nervously shifted from foot to foot. "Hello Tony," His smooth voice entered Tony's ear, "Nice to see you again."

"What are you doing here?" Tony hissed, squinting up his face in confusion, "Thor said you were dead!"

Loki's trademark smile sprung up onto his face, "Well he was obviously wrong." He motioned toward himself, "Here I stand." Tony gulped, unsure of what he should do. Obviously letting in the guy who tried to take over the earth a little while back was a bad idea...but Tony was also curious. What did he want? And how was he here? "Thor is not going to be happy when he finds out you...what did you do, pretend? To die."

Loki sighed loudly. "Ah, yes. I have for seen this. It will be dealt with as it comes. But as of now I have no other choice. Now stand aside I must enter." 

Tony raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and stepped aside, eager to see what kind of carnage would ensue. The entire room silenced as Loki entered, And as Thor caught view of his long lost brother, his eyes widened to an impossible size, and for a moment, Loki thought that Thor might have fainted. Thor's mouth opened and closed several times before he managed to get out anything effectively. "Loki..."

His brother's name was a whisper in the air, and it hung in the room like a fog. Loki smiled once more, voice quiet as he addressed his older brother. "Thor..."

The silence stretched on for an awkward amount of time, and Bruce cleared his throat loudly to try and alleviate some of the discomfort, but it did nothing. After a few longer moments, Thor stepped forward slowly, reaching out. For a moment Loki's eyes widened and he thought for a moment Thor might strike him. But instead his brother grasped him in a hug, pulling his younger brother against him. "Loki, oh Loki, my precious little brother. I believed you dead."

Thor withdrew from the hug, and Loki let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Now brother, if you would be so kind as to allow me to explain, I-" His sentence was cut short as Thor's fist struck him in the jaw, sending Loki's large form across the room and over the bar.

"Oh my god!" Banner exclaimed, and gasps resounded throughout the room. Tony stood gazing over the bar at Loki, laughing loudly.

Loki righted himself, standing and brushing the glass from himself. He huffed, rolling his eyes and pushing the hair out of his eyes. He brushed the blood from his busted lip off his face, taking a deep breath and bringing back up a smile. "Now that that's out of the way..." 

"You lying trickster!" Thor bellowed, "How could you do something like this Loki!? Do you know what you put Father and me through?" 

"If you allow me to explain," Loki began, walking out from behind the bar, "I shall tell you everything." Thor went to speak again, but Natasha grabbed him by the arm, whispering to him, "Just hear him out."

"Fine," Thor's voice was rough and angry, "Speak trickster."

Loki shifted from foot to foot, eyes darting around the room at the rest of the Avengers, methodically planning an escape route if his brother should lose his cool once more. "I will not lie to thee, brother. Twas' a lie. I faked my death in an attempt to...gain Father's favor." Loki watched as his brother's face continued to contort in anger, his face reddening. "Afterward I was called back to Midgard by a man named Doctor Doom. I met there at his castle along with a few other Midgardian villains. They had wished me to participate in their evil...what would you call it? Scheme..."

"Loki! You honestly thought-"

Loki cut him off before he could finish. "I was not finished speaking, _Brother._ " Loki spat the word like venom. "When I learned of what their true objective had been, I was instantly appalled. As much as I'd like to destroy you and your precious Midgard, I do not wish to see the entire nine realms destroyed." Loki gave Thor a few minutes to let the information sink in before he continued. "So I came to you. And I have even brought a peace offering." Loki reached into his robes, and Natasha put a hand on her tazer in caution. In his outstretched hand was a large manilla envelope, full of files and papers.

"What is this, Loki?" Thor asked, reaching out to take the file from his younger brother.

Tony grabbed the file from Loki's hands before Thor could take it. He shifted through it, scanning it's contents and laughing. "Holy shit. He brought us their whole damn to-do list."

"What?" Bruce stood, walking over to Tony and gazing at the file over his shoulder. His eyes widened as he looked. "You're right."

"What is it?" Thor asked, attempting to grab the file from Tony's hands, but Tony walked the other way, toward the door to his lab. "It's their entire plan, that's what. I'm gonna run some tests...I'll be right back." Stark disappeared into his lab, as Bruce trailed closely behind him. After this, the rest of the group slowly dissipated, leaving Thor and Loki standing in front of one another. They stood in silence for a long while, before Thor finally spoke.

"I've missed you Loki..."

"Aye." Loki almost blurted out that he had missed Thor also, but he caught himself before the words left his mouth. Thor continued talking anyway, "I don't know why you're really here Loki...I wish I could trust you brother..." Thor put a hand on Loki's shoulder as he walked past him. "I am warning you brother. If you try anything..."

Loki nodded in understanding, watching as Thor disappeared from the room. He smirked. The truth is...he _was_ planning something...


	2. Gotta Talk about Manilla Folders

"We got some good stuff here Brucie," Tony said as he shifted through documents, intermittently stopping to scan one or two into his computer. Bruce watched his hands as they fluttered about. He steppe behind Tony to glance over his shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of what was inside the mysterious manilla folder. He caught glimpses of pictures of what looked like an extremely large weapon. He gaped, "Oh my God, what is that? That looks like a whole lot of oh shit..."

Tony laughed, nodding his head and scanning another picture, "Yeah, it sure does doesn't it?" He finished scanning another document, and looked up at the projection screen, "Jarvis, do me a favor buddy?"

Jarvis' computerized voice responded immediately, "Yes, sir? How may I be of assistance?" Tony grabbed one of the many pictures of the strange weapon, holding it up to Jarvis, "Ever seen something like this Jarvis?"

"No, sir. But I can attempt to find records of such a device."

"Please do."

Jarvis disappeared from view as Tony set the picture back down onto the folder, resting his hands on the desk in front of him. He let out a long sigh, before turning around to face Bruce. "Wow, what a morning, huh?" He asked, rubbing his face tiredly, "First the lunatic in green shows up, now this creepy ass folder of doom...what's next?"

"Please don't say that. Bad things always happen when you say that."

"Why do you always gotta be doom and gloom, Banner?" Tony teased, patting him on the shoulder as he walked past, "Lighten up a bit, it'll do you some good." Bruce rolled his eyes as Tony exited the lab. Bruce wondered why they had left Loki alone. Bruce didn't trust that guy as far as he could through him, and he doubted he could throw him very far...without the big guy at least. He sighed loudly, trailing after Tony.

Loki had stood quite awkwardly in the middle of the room for a long while, before he had decided to move. He had wandered the rooms for a bit, and he would not deny that he had done some snooping. He stepping with his back to the wall, as he gazed around the corner toward Tony's lab. Loki observed as Tony and Bruce conversed, before walking separate directions. Loki waited until he was sure they would not be coming back before he stepped out from behind his cover. He headed to the lab quickly, making sure his boots made no sounds on the tile floor. He entered the lab quietly, finding what he was seeking as he entered. The manilla folder Tony had taken from him lay open on a desk, the files spread for easy reading. Loki thumbed through them, glancing at the pictures of Doctor Doom's weapon concept. A blinking on Stark's laptop caught his attention. A web page with information on a similar weapon sat on the screen. Loki gazed over the information, but scoffed. Loki knew what the strange weapon did...the weapon described on the bright screen was nothing compared to the power of the one in the picture. Just thinking of all the havoc such a weapon could cause made Loki excited, but at the same time, he was no fool. Such a weapon could soon be turned on his home of Asgard.

How was he too rule if there was nothing left to govern?

"What are you doing in here?"

Loki startled at the sound of the voice. He froze, breathing shallow, watching the shadow of person standing behind him. He waited as the voice spoke once more, "I shall repeat, who are you, and why are you here?"

It was a woman, this Loki knew, the voice was soft, and carried a thick accent. He guessed that he had never met this one before. He put his most charming smile on, and turned to face her slowly. He was met with a shorter girl, dark hair, and startling red eyes, but this was not what Loki took notice of. This woman swelled with power; a power Loki was not aware that a mortal might posses...she could be a potential threat. He laughed rather nervously, clearing his throat as he spoke, "I am...Loki...of Asgard."

The woman did not look amused, and Loki watched as she called a red energy that Loki recognized as a manipulation magic to her fingers. "That did not answer the question of why you are in Mr. Stark's laboratory." Loki noted that it sounded as if her patience was wearing thin, and he wished not for a confrontation. He smiled once more, "Of course, of course. I am...simply returning this picture," Loki held the picture up for the magical woman to see, "to Mr. Stark's folder." He watched as she looked at him incredulously. He tensed as she walked toward him. He watched her outstretch her hand. What a fool...

The magic from her fingers entered his mind, and she smiled as her magic did it's work. After a moment her red eyes widened, and she let out a yelp as she withdrew from him like a wounded animal. Her eyes widened and Loki took a moment to appreciate the look of terror in her eyes. "What...what are you?"

"Me?" Loki asked, motioning to himself, "I am Loki, brother of Thor."

"You are Asgardian, like the other?"

"Yes...well, sort of I would say."

They stared at one another for a moment, before Loki called some of his own magic to his fingers, the green swirling about as he offered her the view. She watched him in awe, "I did not know...others could do such a thing..."

"Not here, on this realm. But elsewhere yes. I am intrigued as to how a mortal could acquire such power...but it is of no matter. I must go, before my brother comes searching for me." The strange woman stared at him a bit longer, before offering him her name. "I am the Scarlet Witch." Loki raised an eyebrow at the peculiar name. "You are with the Avengers?"

"I am now."

"Hm...it seems we are in the same boat then, my lady." He smiled a charming smile as he nodded in her direction and past her. He could feel her strange eyes burning into his back as he walked away. In all honesty Loki disliked her...but at the same time he held a burning curiosity. Her magic was of a special kind. She held manipulation magic, which allowed her to use her mind to control others, and to an extent, objects. Even Loki's own knowledge of such magic as hers was limited after centuries of practice. He hoped that while he was here he might study the peculiar woman. He thoughts were interrupted however at the bellow of his brothers voice.

"Loki!"

Loki caught site of his older brother as he entered the main room. Thor's face was a mask of fury, and Loki was caught slightly off guard. He had done nothing! Yet...Thor thundered over to him, grabbing Loki roughly by the throat, and lifting his younger brother from the ground with ease. Loki's hands gripped at Thor's larger ones, as his eye's widened in fear. He attempted to speak but could force no air through his throat.

"Where were you?! Loki I swear if you've been up to something I-"

"Thor! Release him." Scarlet Witch stood before them, gazing at the two incredulously. "He did nothing wrong. I saw."

Loki watched as Thor gazed angrily at her, then back at Loki, before huffing and dropping Loki to the floor with a thud. Loki landed gracefully, chuckling and rubbing his neck gently. "My dear brother, where is all the trust?"

"I have not trusted you since you attempted to kill me, Loki. No one would trust a trickster such as you." Loki feigned hurt, "Oh brother, I am so hurt by that statement." Thor simply glared at his brother.

"Enough Loki."

"Oh but brother, I-"

Their conversation was cut short as Tony entered, loudly as usual, stopping in front of them and raising an eyebrow. "Uhhh...was I interrupting something?" He glanced from Scarlet Witch to Thor, then to Loki, and back again. "You weren't planning on having like a weird magical orgy or something were you?"

Loki's face paled immediately, Thor looked as if he'd be sick, and Scarlet Witch remained emotionless, blinking once in Tony's direction. "What?" Tony asked, obviously unaware. Loki stood quickly, smoothing out his robes, and readjusting himself. "We were doing nothing of the sort. However this oafish barbarian _did_ attack me."

"You attacked him?" Tony asked Thor, who stood still looking kind of upset. He was silent for a moment before answering. "I did no such thing. I simply wished to know where he was. If you do not remember he is a previous war criminal."

Tony nodded in understanding, "Yes...I suppose so. War criminal does sound pretty bad ass though..."

"Are we finished here?" Scarlet Witch asked, shifting impatiently on her feet. Loki was the first to answer. "I believe so. I'm quite finished." He pushed his way past Thor roughly, exiting the room. Scarlet Witch was quick to follow, leaving Thor and Tony standing next to one another. Tony turned to Thor, asking, "Did you really attack him?" All he received was a grunt as Thor followed the others, Tony standing in the room alone and quiet confused.

"Huh..." He shrugged, heading back to his lab. As he entered Jarvis materialized on the projection. "I have found information on a weapon similar to the ones you showed to me, sir."

"Okay, shoot."

"Well sir, there was no information on the weapon you showed me, but I found a few pages that contained information on a similar weapon." Jarvis brought up a few different web pages on the projection screen, scrolling through them at a steady pace. "The weapon appears to be some kind of projection device...perhaps a laser. It is not much different from the device used to open the portal during the incident in Manhattan."

"Oh geez..."

"It seems as if Doctor Doom plans to recreate Loki's previous portal device." Jarvis finished his explanation, and Tony stood examining the material. "Oh this is not good. But that still doesn't explain Loki's logic for coming to us..."

"By examining Loki's character...It's seems that perhaps this partnership is beneficial to him." Tony nodded in agreement, but the question of what exactly Loki was gaining remained unanswered. Perhaps Thor had a good reason to be wary. "Well, if he came back from the grave to be here...it must be something important."

"I would suggest keeping an eye on him sir."

"Will do Jarvis. Thanks for the help." Jarvis disappeared from the screen, leaving Tony alone in the room once more to ponder what he had learned. He was hesitant to give the information to the others; he wasn't sure how they would react. Tony really didn't want to stir up anything between the brothers. The last thing he needed was his freshly rebuilt tower destroyed by the two. He guessed her should discuss it with Bruce. If anyone were to be able to understand the dilemma Tony was facing it would be him. He turned to exit the lab, but stopped as his eye caught something.

He turned to face the manilla folder, situated on the desk as he had left it...but something was off. He gazed at one of the pictures that had been inside the manilla envelope. It was situated differently.

A picture he had set in the middle was not situated on the top. "Someone was in my lab..."

"What's going on Tony?" Natasha stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, watching him. Her gaze lingered on the manilla folder in front of him. He sighed, grabbing the manilla envelope and waving it in front of himself. "Nothing really, just going through the manilla envelope of dooooom."

"Oh yeah? And what's in the manilla envelope of doom?"

"Blueprints, concepts, to-do lists, the whole nine yards."

"So that's the envelope Loki brought then? He mentioned Doctor Doom and some other villains." Natasha crossed the room toward Tony, taking the envelope from his hands gently, examining it with care. "Wow, this looks dangerous."

Tony chuckled, "Yeah. Jarvis mentioned the similarities between this concept and the contraption Loki used in Manhattan to open the portal for the Chitauri." Natasha gazed up from the folder at Tony, shaking her head. "That had been fun...So you think Doctor Doom is trying to recreate the portal? What does he want, to bring the Chitauri back to earth?"

Tony shrugged, "I don't know, but whatever he wants with it, it's probably not good. Loki mentioned something about not wanting to destroy nine realms or some crazy shit like that. So I'm guessing that this is bad."

"So what are we planning then?" Tony took a long moment to consider this. What _were_ they planning on doing? He shook his head, "I don't know...The most I can do is draw up these concepts, build a 3-D model and go from there."

Natasha nodded, setting the folder down on the desk gingerly. "And what of Loki? We just gonna let him have free roam of everything?"

Tony laughed, "I have no idea...it's probably not a good idea to give him access to all of our secret information."

"Thor could keep a pretty close eye on him."

"Or they might kill each other," Tony added, walking past Natasha toward the door. "But hey, whatever works right?"

Thor sat across from Loki at a small table, arms crossed and glaring death at his younger brother. Loki sat with his legs crossed, a crooked smile on his face, gazing at Thor with a mischievous eye. "Are we going to continue to sit here and glare at one another? Or could we carry on a decent conversation for once?" Loki asked, stifling a giggle. Thor glare at him a little more, before sighing, his gaze softening. "Alright Loki, what do you want?"

Loki feinged surprise, "I want nothing...I simple wished to speak to my... _brother."_ The word tasted foul on his tongue.

"Fine, Loki. We shall speak." Thor sat, waiting to hear what his brother would say. Loki sat quietly for a moment, a look of concentration on his face. He looked back at Thor once it seemed that he had found the words he was looking for.

"So...What have you been up to?"

Thor deadpanned. "Seriously Loki? After all this time, we finally sit down to talk and all you can ask me is what I have been...up to?"

Loki broke out into laughter, chuckling as he continued to speak. "You are right, Thor, you are right. I'm sorry, allow me to rephrase. What have I... _missed..._ while I've been otherwise preoccupied?" Thor cracked a smile as his brother. He missed this. He missed the companionship he once had with Loki. He missed the _real_ Loki. "Well, you didn't really miss much. I assume you are aware of the events with Ultron?"

Loki nodded. "Of course. I followed your every move when I heard that you had left Asgard."

"You did what?" Thor asked, flabbergasted. Despite how he hated it, his heart was touched that his brother had kept such a close eye on him. "Loki, what would possess you to do such a thing?"

"I wanted to...to watch the situation." Loki turned his head away, "That is all."

Thor smiled. His brother had almost always failed at pretending that he didn't care. "Well that's what I was up to."

They went silent for awhile, before Loki spoke once more. "So...how is your Midgardian...girlfriend?"

"You mean Jane?" Thor asked. Loki nodded, gazing back at his brother. "Yes, Jane. I haven't seen her since the Dark World."

Thor laughed as he remembered Jane hitting his brother. She had a lot of character. Thinking of her now created a slight longing in his chest. But he pushed it aside, answering his brother. "She is doing fine. She was nominated for some award or another. Truthfully I have not seen her in longer than I'd like to admit..." He trailed off, gazing at the floor.

"I can understand the feeling of longing, brother. Trust me. Well I am...glad she is faring well."

"What of you Loki?"

"Hm?"

Loki was unsure of what his brother was asking him. Thor elaborated, "I mean have you found someone special in your...absence?"

Loki laughed loudly, and Thor was unsure of what he had said to cause such a reaction. Loki continued, "Of course not brother. Unlike you I am not the target of every maiden's dream." Thor scoffed, "I am not the target of _every_ maiden's dreams...but even if I was, I am happily taken."

"Sure. Happily."

"What does that mean, Loki?" Thor asked, getting defensive at Loki's comment. Loki's simply smiled, giggling and shaking his head, "Nothing brother, nothing. I meant nothing by it."

Thor gazed at him disbelievingly, but let it go. Loki spoke once more though, curiosity winning over, "Who is the Scarlet Witch?"

"We met her during the events with Ultron. She is not unlike you brother, I figure you two may get along decently...perhaps you could even show her new ways to use her powers...or her you."

Loki considered his brother's point for a moment. He was intrigued by this woman...Thor watched the cogs in his brother's head turn slowly as he thought. Thor wished he knew what his brother thought...how he thought. As they sat, Tony walked into the room with a look of concentration plastered on his face.

"We have to talk about what I found in this folder."


	3. Better Things to Do

"We have to talk about what I found in this folder."

Thor looked up from the table to gaze at Tony, who waved the manilla folder around in front of him. "Yeah?" Thor asked, gazing curiously at the folder. Tony nodded, tossing it onto the table. Loki was aware that the rest of the Avengers began to gather around him. He began working out tactics in case they decided to turn against him. He knew he wouldn't last long against them alone.

"Care to explain this, Loki?" Tony asked, dropping the folder on the table in front of Loki. Loki simply leaned back in his chair with a smirk on his face, gazing lazily at the folder, then back at Tony. He shook his head, "What do you mean _explain?_ What is it you want me to explain exactly? I stole the folder from Doctor Doom, I brought it here. That is all."

Thor turned to Loki, "I do not think that is what he is referring to Loki." Loki gazed back at him, rolling his eyes in annoyance, sighing, "Are you asking me to explain what is inside the folder?" Tony began to answer but Loki continued, effectively silencing him, "Because I cannot. So do not even ask."

Tony closed his mouth, looking at Loki annoyed. "So you are going to tell me you have no idea what is in this folder? If you didn't know why bring it here?"

Loki was silent for a long moment, as he considered this. Stark had a point; he thought for a little while longer before choosing his answer carefully, "Well, they simply told me they planned on making a device to open a portal, then something about and army...I told them not to even try it I mean _I_ did that once and look how _that_ turned out..." He stretched, setting his legs out in front of him, "But he didn't listen. So I looked around, grabbed something that seemed important and brought it as proof. That was all." Loki pointed to the manilla folder, "I know nothing, nor have anything to do with, that."

Thor gave his brother an incredulous look, but remained silent. Tony however did not share his silence. "So you honestly expect us to believe that? That you, God of Mischief didn't think any farther ahead than that?" Tony's voice was laced with sarcasm. Loki nodded, "Well...yeah...I guess I do."

"Yeah, like we're supposed to believe that."

"Enough!" Thor's voice was loud enough to stun the room into silence, and Loki was suddenly vary much aware of just how trapped he really was. Natasha stood near the elevator, Hawkeye stood at the window, Bruce stood behind Tony in front of him, Thor to his left, and Steve stood by the kitchen to his right. They were moving in on him, he realized. Thor continued, "My brother has done nothing wrong... _yet._ And I emphasize on the yet."

"He's right you know," Natasha stepped forward, gazing at Loki, "He _did_ bring us fair warning and some pretty damning evidence. And he didn't have too. I say we lay off a little bit."

"Are you kidding?" Steve asked her, breaking his perpetual silence. "This is the same guy that almost killed us all, and practically destroyed Manhattan! What do you want to do, let him run free?" 

"No!" Natasha snapped, crossing her arms and glaring angrily at Steve. "I was saying we should lay off because he did us a favor. We now have a strategic advantage! He didn't have to, but he did. We should at least give him a chance."

"But that doesn't answer the question of why we would let him have free reign of everything!" Steve pressed. Finally, Thor spoke up. "Giving my brother free reign is a terrible idea."

"Oh thank you brother." Loki added, rolling his eyes as everyone turned to look at him. He waved them off, "Go ahead, continue talking about me like I'm not here."

Thor gave Loki a warning gaze before starting to talk once more, "If we want him out of trouble why not give him something useful to do? If he wishes to prove himself that is the obvious way to go." The others seemed to consider this for a long moment. Bruce was the first to speak, "Yeah, I actually...kind of...agree with that."

"Well it works," said Natasha.

Tony spoke next, irritation and boredom evident in his voice, "Alright fine. Then what do you guys suppose we have him do? _Clean?"_ He laughed as he said that. Natasha let out a loud sarcastic laugh, before smiling with a twinkle in her eye. "I actually have a perfect idea. And his talents will be of actual use."

Tony scoffed at her, "Oh yeah? And what is that? A magic _janitor?_ "

Loki sat in his chair as they argued, his oafish brother joining in along with the others, until the entire room was caught up in an argument he cared nothing about. He gazed lazily at the Avengers...how easily they were at each others throats. Loki didn't think it would be hard to turn them against each other. Actually, he assumed it would be fairly easy. As he sat trying to tune the voices out, something red caught his eye. He turned to look. Wanda stood in a doorway across from him, hidden from view of the others, who had formed a sort of 'argument huddle'. He watched as she beckoned him to her.

Loki sat and contemplated his choices. In the end his dislike for all of the noise won over, and he slipped out of his seat quickly, quietly crossing the room, easily moving out from under their noses without notice. As he followed Scarlet Witch through the doorway he glanced back behind him, where the Avengers continued their argument. He wished not to be a part of it. He turned and continued to follow her down the hall.

He caught up beside her, and they walked at a steady pace. "It must be rough." Her heavily accented voice stirred him from his stupor. He chuckled, "Not really. Honestly I've been dealing with..."He pointed behind himself with a thumb, "that, since I was but a child." Wanda nodded in understanding. "You are the one they refer to when they speak of the terror in Manhattan, are you not?"

Loki nodded, "Aye."

"No wonder they do not trust you. They do not trust me fully either, I do not think." She turned a corner, and Loki followed. Loki gazed at her smaller form as they walked, and his curiosity continued to rise. "I am curious," Loki questioned as they walked the tower, "How did a mortal such as yourself acquire such powers? Midgardians are not capable of such abilities."

Wanda sighed, looking distraught for a moment, before her emotionless mask was replaced. "It is a long story. I'd rather not speak of it. Come this way." Loki followed her as she led him into a stairwell. They descended slowly, as she kept two steps ahead of him. She continued, "I was not the only one with such power...I had a brother once."

"Oh?"

"They called him Quicksilver. He was very fast. We lost him during the incident with Ultron." Loki nodded understandingly, "I am aware of the incident. I can only imagine the pain of losing a brother." Wanda went silent as they walked onto a different floor. Loki could sense the pain emanating from her. He could only imagine what it would be like to lose Thor...not that he cared any more anyway. He made a mental note of her brother. As they walked, Loki raised a hand behind her head, green magic racing from his fingers into the back of her head. In moments her feelings, memories, thoughts, flooded through him. He disconnected immediately for fear of her noticing him, but she remained unaware. Loki could almost laugh. These pathetic, pig-headed mortals were so far beneath him. It was so easy to lace his way into their minds, to influence them, to steal information from them...to be rid of them. He cracked a smile as they continued their walk.

"It is strange to see someone like myself, who is not my brother." Scarlet Witch said the words quietly, as they entered through another door. Loki agreed, "Yes, it is indeed isn't it? I was shunned often in Asgard for my abilities."

"People do not understand me either. I have made a lot of mistakes."

"Me too." Loki winced as the words left his mouth, and he regretted them instantly. He had allowed himself to speak without restraint. He watched Wanda turn to gaze at him curiously, "Truly?"Loki nodded in confirmation, adding a reassuring smile while inwardly kicking himself for being so careless with his words. He was drawn from his inward cursing when Wanda stopped her moving and turned toward him. Loki gazed about the room in wonder. The floors were darkly colored and padded, with bright overhead lights. If he had to guess, Loki would say this was the training room. He realized that Scarlet Witch had led him to the sparring floor.

She backed a few feet away from him, and stood gazing in his direction calmly. He smiled, she did not know what she was asking for. Her mouth opened and she spoke sternly, "I wish to see some of the things you can do. You send energy at me, I block. Then we reverse." She nodded toward him as she awaited a response impatiently. Loki considered this for a moment, before replying. "Well I guess there isn't any harm in a little harmless fun."

She stepped backward once more, red magic lacing its way through her fingers, "Show me what you've got, _God of Mischief."_

A mischievous smile crossed Loki's face, as his own green magic surged through his body and to his fingers. He so enjoyed the feeling of power that surged through his body. He focused the magic into his right hand, watching as his palm burst into flames, the green fire dancing about. He smiled, looking up at Wanda, "Are you ready, Witch?"

She nodded, a smile spreading across her face like wildfire.

Loki retracted his arm, allowing the fire to build in heat and power, before extending it with force, releasing the ball of energy, sending it spiraling toward Wanda. He smiled as he watched her. She called forth the red magics that surrounded her, and they quickly placed themselves in a shield-like form in front of her. He watched in excitement as his magic struck her, dissipating as it hit her shield; however it knocked her small form off balance, and she stumbled backward a few steps. Loki laughed at her, and she sent him back a smirk that was not all that different from his own.

He waited until she righted herself, before sliding his foot backward, positioning his body for another strike. As he called the magic forth into his palm, she raised her hand.

"I wish to strike you now. Defend yourself."

She gave him almost no time to prepare. She called forth her magic in the same way he had done his, and it gave him only moments to change his stance. He shifted his footing in a fluid motion, his body twisting like a serpent, and in a second he put up his hand. Her magic shot toward him like a cannonball, colliding with his hand in a fraction of a second. There was a flash of light as their magics collided.

Wanda watched in surprise as her magic exploded away from Loki, before dissipating like mist into the air. Loki's body did not move an inch at the impact, but remained rooted where it had been. Wanda gazed at him in wonder; his boy was like a statue. Only after the last bits of her magic dissipated and she had lowered her hand did Loki lower his own, putting his feet together and relaxing his stance.

She began questioning him at once.

"How did you manage to manipulate your magic to a shield in such a short time span? How did you manage to withstand the kickback? Why did my magic disappear the way it did when-" Loki interrupted her, with a small chuckle, "I shall explain, if you quiet yourself."

She went silent, slightly embarrassed at her over zealousness. Once Loki was sure she would remain silent, he began his explanation, one question at a time, he presumed. "Now, your first question?" He did not have a chance to take in all her questions at once. She looked at the floor, hesitating before answering, "I guess my first question would be how you withstood the kickback from your shield."

Loki smiled, "Well, it's not that difficult." He was beginning to enjoy this. "I could... _show you..._ if you'd like I mean..." Wanda nodded hesitantly, as Loki started toward her. He stood before her, beginning his explanation with a charming smile plastered on his face. "Well, my mother explained it to me like this. When casting something like a shield, you must not only prepare your magic, but your body as well. The body is an essential part of casting magic. So, to prepare yourself for impact, you want to distribute your body weight to lessen the knock back." Loki stretched out his foot, pushing Wanda's foot backward with his own until he was satisfied with her stance. The whole time her gaze stayed locked on him. "Now," Loki continued, circling around behind her to adjust the way her shoulders were swayed, "Tighten your core." He patted her belly as he walked back over to his side of the sparring mat. "Call your shield, and keep your stance." He ready his own body, calling his own magic to his hand. Once he was sure she was prepared, he released his fireball in her direction.

It hit her with force, Loki heard the connection of fireball and shield, and he waited to see if she would hold her stance.

Wanda's body rocked slightly, and he watched it shake her, but to his surprise it did not knock her back as he expected. She held the stance he showed her, although she was still shaky. He applauded her, more in jest than actual praise. "You did well! I was surprised that you held as well as you did."

"Was that the full power of the fireball?"

Loki smiled, "Of course not. If it was, you shield would have broken. I saw the unevenness of it." Wanda look offended for a moment, before blushing, and saying quietly, "I lost control a bit during impact."

"I noticed that..."Loki pointed out. "Now your next question." It took Wanda a moment to think, trying to recoup from the blow, having tired her out a bit. She inhaled deeply before answering, "How did you manage to manipulate your into a shield in such a short amount of time? It would have taken me a few moments longer to do what you did in the blink of an eye." Loki smiled in understanding, and the answer was quite simple.

"Practice. Centuries of it in fact. Not that you have centuries but...The amount of control I have comes from practicing manipulation; having my magic become a part of myself." Wanda looked confused for a moment, giving Loki a strange look. "I do not understand."

"You must learn to accept your magic, imbue it into yourself, let if flow freely through your veins. The natural sorcerer or sorceress, in your case, would keep magic locked away until such a time as it is needed. I however allow my magic to flow freely through my body. It has been so long that it is flows like my blood. It allows me to call upon it easier..." He stepped up beside her, whispering in her ear, " _Faster._ "

She jumped at this, and Loki had to stop himself from letting the giggles building in his throat escape. He circled around back to her front, facing her. He extended his arm, palm up toward her. She reached out tentatively, touching the skin of his wrist gently with her fingertips. She could feel the power within him, and it made her nervous. He simply stood smiling at her. "Oh, and I almost forgot. As for your question earlier, about your magic dissipating? Think of it like this. When two magical forces collide, the one that is more powerful would automatically cancel out the other. Mine was so highly above yours that it simply canceled it out." He stood, a smug look on his face, crossing his arms. Wanda stood watching him intently, before gazing at a spot a few feet beside him, attempting to take in all the information he had just provided her.

After a few moments she asked, "You mentioned your mother showed you..."

"Yes..."  
"Who is your mother, Loki?"

Loki was silent for a long time, and Wanda wondered if maybe she had hit a raw nerve. But he responded, rather quietly, "My mother...was Frigga, Queen of Asgard." Wanda was impressed. She remembered Thor mentioning her several times to the Avengers. If she was correct, Frigga was married to Odin, King of Asgard. Loki however, continued unexpectedly, "She was killed not to long ago...I just don't want her knowledge...to go to waste."

Wanda nodded. "I lost my twin brother not that long ago too..."

That sat silently for a long time. Loki wasn't sure if he believed that she understood the pain he was going through. The pain had been ripping him apart since the day he learned of her death. He had hurt himself profusely and continuously during the day after her death. He continued to blame himself. In a second a hundred different thoughts raced through his head, and each one pointed a finger at him. HE told Kurse to use the hidden stairs, HE was the one who had gotten himself locked up, HE had put that chain of events into motion...and what killed him the most inside...the one that iced his heart, then broke it into pieces day after day was...the last words he ever said to his precious mother...

 _Loki...then am I not your mother?_

 _You are not._

"Are you alright?" Wanda's voice pulled Loki from his ruminations. He inhaled deeply, covering his hurt with a mask of mischief. "I am fine, I was just...going over some ways I might...help you improve yourself."

Wanda nodded, but did not believe him. She had seen the look in his eyes. His eyes were those of pain and suffering. She knew the feeling well. However she did not call him on it, instead, she spoke, "Let's practice again."

"Of course." Loki went back to his space on the mat, and prepared himself to attack her once more. This time, he decided to test her. He called the fireball into his palm again, but gave her no time to prepare. She extended his arm and released the magic immediately. Scarlet Witch let out a terrified yelp as she struggled to get her shield in place. Loki's magic hit her shield in a second, but the shield wavered, knocking her backward and to the ground. This time, Loki laughed aloud.

Wanda glared at him from the ground, standing up slowly and rubbing her arse. "That hurt! I was not prepared!"

"So?" Loki asked laughing at her, "Are you going to say that to a Chitauri when they attack you too?"

Wanda continued to glare at him, which amused him even further, and he turned around to walk back to his space, chuckling to himself; that's when he heard it. The undeniable sound of magic being harnessed and magnified. He turned quickly, throwing up his hand once more to magnify a shield. He had his body turned halfway around when he felt her magic strike him. The first attack bounced off his shield, but it was the second and third strikes he was not prepared for. The second knocked him backward off his feet, and the third was enough to cast him to the ground, his barrier dissipating as he struck the ground on his back, his skull cracking off the floor loudly.

Wanda watched as the large man before her struck the ground, and for a moment she was quite satisfied with herself, and her hunger for vengeance sated. It was when she heard his skull strike the concrete that she instantly regretted her hasty decision.

She watched him for a moment, as his body lay still on the ground.

" _Ahhh..."_ Loki groaned as he sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head. He was not used to being physically involved, and for the second time that day he wished to kick himself. He did not know why he hadn't replaced his actual body with a copy of himself before they had started. But he had been distracted.

He stood to his feet, smoothing out his robes, grateful that he held armor underneath his robes. As a matter of fact, he always wore his golden armor and horned helmet, he simply used his magic to disguise them. He shook his head, gazing at Wanda. For a moment she saw a flash of fury, but it was quickly disguised once more behind the mask that was Loki's face. Loki saw the flash of fear in her eyes, and truth be told it made him a little excited, but he didn't want her afraid...not yet.

He smiled back at her shaking his head up and down, "Yes... _that_ was masterful work."

"Truly?" She asked him, tempted to leave the room. But she was held in place by a morbid curiosity. Loki nodded, "Truly." Loki stopped in front of her, inches from her, eyes locked. She watched his gaze flick between her lips and her eyes multiple times, and for a moment she thought he would kiss her, but then as quickly as it had happened, he walked past her, toward the door. He had had enough physical injury for one day. "Now why don't we head back before we're missed? I'm sure they must be done arguing by now."

"Of course." Wanda said reluctantly, following Loki, "I thank you for taking the time to show me those things. I enjoyed spending this time with you."

Loki glanced back at her as he walked. "Hm. Of course. Happy to help. I'm not all bad you know, despite what my brother says. I quite enjoyed spending time with another who possess the same intellectual...and... _magical abilities._ " And with that he exited the room, leaving Wanda alone. She watched the door close behind him. There was something about him that drew her too him. There were few people besides her late brother who actually understood her. And even her brother did not share such a knowledge as Loki's in magic.

His gaze drew her to him; his emerald eyes were captivating. She shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts; they were not good for her. She headed out the door after him.

When Loki entered the room the others were gather around, and first once they were calmly discussing things. When they caught view of him Thor stood, and tony asked, "Where were you?" Loki smiled nervously, gazing around, and was ready to answer when he was interrupted by Scarlet Witch.

"We were in the sparring room. He was showing me some ways to improve my form."

The room went silent for awhile before Thor looked at Loki, "Listen brother. We have discussed. Since you brought us this information, we have agreed to allow you to stay for the time being."

"With restrictions of course," Steve aided, but was shot a dirty look by Thor that seemed to shout 'stay out of it.'

Thor continued, "Tony has agreed to give you the spare room at the end of the bedroom hall. As for contribution..." Silence followed, as the Avengers looked around to one another. Natasha was the first to speak. "Considering you did just come from teaching Scarlet Witch, I think that's a decent job for contribution. You'll be helping me with new recruits. Such as her." Loki raised an eyebrow, skeptical. He wasn't sure if it was to his liking, but Loki guessed he had no choice. So he shrugged in agreement. After another moment of awkward silence, Thor continued. "You'll be monitored of course, and if you step out of line..."

Loki closed his eyes, sighed, then opened them once more. "I understand."

It was then that Banner entered the room, slightly sweaty and looking exasperated. "Tony," Banner took a minute to catch his breath, "I've made the 3-D model. You were right, it's not a weapon per say, it's much more like a portal device. Similar to the one made by Selvig in Manhattan."

"Are you positive?" Loki asked, shocked. This was not something he had foreseen. Banner nodded.

"I'm positive."

Loki sat in wide-eyed silence, stunned at this new turn of events. He had not anticipated that Doctor Dooms reasoning behind building such a weapon was for a purpose such as that. He remembered his time spent with Thanos, the Other...the Chitauri. He hated them all with such a burning passion that it threatened to consume him. He shook his head, speaking, "I had no reasons to suspect this was what the device was for. I merely assumed it was a type of weapon. But this, this is much worse than I could have imagined."

"You're correct. If he plans to recreate what happened in Manhattan hundreds of lives would be lost." Natasha noted, leaning back against the wall, arms neatly folded. Loki scoffed, "It's not the lives I'd be worried about..." His voice trailed off into silence.

"What do you mean?" Tony questioned, leaning down against the table to look at Loki's eyes. Loki simply stared back blankly, before smiling, "I mean, my stubborn fools, that I would not be worried about lives lost, but instead whether or not my entire realm would be destroyed...you know, mass populace and all that..." As Loki finished speaking, Scarlet Witch entered the mix, walking into their cluster, and raising her voice so they could here her. "It makes sense. Back when we first met, when you first found Loki's scepter, it was true that they were working on a way to build another portal. It was one of the reasons why they were studying the dead Leviathan. But I had no idea that they could have been working for Doctor Doom before Ultron."

"That...makes perfect sense!" Tony exclaimed excitedly, "Why else would they have been researching? The funds and things had to originate somewhere! And I guarantee it was from there," Tony pointed to a picture of Doom Castle that hung on the wall ominously, grinning ear to ear like and idiot. "Doesn't that place look exciting and full of adventure?"

"No." Was they answer that simultaneously crossed the room. Tony simply lowered his hand and went silent. Banner picked up where Tony had stopped, "So that also might mean that somehow Doctor Doom has made an alliance with the Chitauri?"

"No." Loki stated, face contorted in consternation, as he gazed intensely at the floor. "The Chitauri cannot even control themselves. It means that he has been into contact with Thanos..."

"Tha-who now?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. Loki deadpanned, and simply repeated the name. Tony sighed, "Holy cow that's a mouthful of alien name."

Every continued ignoring Tony's idiotic comments, as Bruce spoke once more, "So you're saying that our enemy here is allied with a powerful enemy force. The same force you yourself were allied with in Manhattan?"  
"No," Loki cut him short, "Not allied...forced...the mind stone held a powerful control over me. What I did was not my own doing. I am no fool as I was."

"That makes a lot of sense I mean," Tony pointed to Loki with is thumb, "He was acting crazy the whole time, and no offense buddy, you looked like absolute shit when you first stepped out of that portal."

Loki's face remained emotionless, as he gazed at Tony, a million ways to kill him and make him suffer flooding his mind as he squinted slightly. Thor however, interrupted his loathing by putting a hand on his brother's arm, "Tis' not your fault Loki. I...we already know this. Fret over it no more." Loki nodded, pulling his arm away from Thor's grasp. He disliked being touched...He shook his head as the discussion trudged on, and he wondered vaguely...had they ever had a discussion without arguing? He leaned back in his chair, inhaled deeply, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he was standing back before the Other. A terror he had not felt since he had been under the control of the mind stone jumped back into him, and he fought to steady his own breathing. Slowly, the Other turned to him, and Loki struggled to keep himself here, to not retreat back to the safety of his own mind. But the Other had taught him, the mind of a sorcerer is never safe. The Other spoke, the deathly voice sending chills down his spine. 

" _So the prince returns._..." The Other stood in front of him now, and Loki cringed at the thought of another touch from him, " _You failed us. So why do you return here? Do you wish for your death, oh young prince of Asgard?"_

Loki shook his head slowly, standing from the kneeling position he'd been in, trying with difficulty to steady his voice, and add an air of confidence. "I understand I have failed, but I ask thee this; did you expect a mind controlled loon to be able to bring about the war you envisioned? Surely thou are not so stupid."

The Other was silent for a few moments, the tension building, before he spoke once more, " _I was not so blinded...my boss however was. I actually enjoy you, little prince._ " Loki swallowed hard, taking this as a sign to continue; with caution however. "I ask of you, Other, does the Great One have the help of another? Perhaps a mortal of Midgard?" 

The Other nodded, " _Indeed_."

"So he intends to finish what he started with me by using another, more willing vessel?" Loki asked, watching as the Other nodded in agreement. Loki took a chance by asking, "Indeed you are not so blinded by power that you assume this is a good idea?" 

" _I suppose it is not."_

Loki smiled, he was doing what he was best at. "Then I ask you, why should you allow this to continue? Surely you are just as powerful as he?"

Again, the Other was silent, considering the trickster's words before, " _I suppose I should not...but I would never directly oppose him. I do not wish for my death."_

Loki smirked a shadow of himself behind the other, whispering in his ear, "Then help me...we shall topple him together, without even as much as a sound. You see, we'll do it before he even realizes we've pulled the rug out from under his feet." 

The shadow of Loki disappeared, and the Other stood, thinking hard, and staring at the misshapen ground of this hazardous environment. He glanced up at Loki, " _I like you, young ling. I shall assist, but at this cost. If you bring me my death, you shall be in constant pain and I shall curse you for a million eternities."_

Loki raised an eyebrow, smiling and shrugging, "Alrighty then," Loki reluctantly offered his hand to the Other, and winced as they shook hands, removing his hand as quickly as possible and subtly wiping it off on his robes. "I shall be in touch," Loki voice echoed as he removed himself quickly, with a flash of light his eyes opened, and he remained seated where he had from the beginning, leaning back in his chair surrounded by the oafish Avengers.

As Loki had assumed, they arguments continued, even as he returned, and he realized that no one had noticed he had been absent from his body. However he did catch a peculiar look from Wanda, who stood silently, her gaze plastered to him. Loki sighed. He grew extremely tired of this. With a fluid motion he was on his feet, stepping between Tony and Thor, who were now at each others throats, and loudly he proclaimed, "Enough of this childish arguing! I grow tired of this stupidity!"

Everyone was stunned into silence at Loki's sudden outburst.

Loki gazed about at the persons in the room, eyes blazing with irritation. Once everyone had been silent for a moment, he continued, voice lowered to a neutral tone, and face back to a mask of cheeriness, "Now, if everyone is finished with their petty arguments?" Everyone in the room stayed silent, nodding their heads in what seemed like a bit of shame. The only one Loki noticed that did not was Tony, who stood valiantly in the center, looking almost proud of himself.

"Well I guess Thor's brother _does_ have a voice of reason..." Tony motioned at Loki, "See guys he's not _completely_ insane..."

Loki glared at Tony angrily, looking at Thor to back him up, but his brother simply stayed silent, eyes cast to the floor. Loki snorted, having had quite enough. He shoved past Tony, almost knocking him to the floor as he began descending the stairs.

"Loki!" Thor called after him, making a move to follow.

But Loki didn't care. He had better things to do anyway...


	4. Whosoever Holds This Book

Thor gaped at the empty spot where is brother had been moments before, speechless. The rest of the Avengers looked equally surprised, all stunned into silence. The quiet was loud in Thor's ears as he fought the urge to chase after his brother.

"We just gonna let him go?" Natasha's voice rang out, breaking the ever growing silence. Banner was next to speak, voice quiet and soft.

"It probably wouldn't be the best idea, I mean...we know how Loki is." Thor nodded, silently agreeing. He knew his brother was right however. They had done more fighting than helping. Steve finally stood from his leaning position against a wall barrier, straightening his back, inhaling deeply. A few seconds passed before he spoke, voice ringing out with authority.

"Loki was right. We are doing nothing but wasting time." He sighed again, looking around the rest of the room, "This fighting needs to stop. We have more important things to attend to." A loud laugh from Tony turned heads toward him as he said, "Yeah, come on guys!" In an accusing tone. After a few seconds for affect, he added, "It's pretty bad when you got the bad guys telling you how bad _your_ teamwork is."

Steve rolled his eyes, casting tony a look that most likely meant 'shut the hell up'. Thor went to speak, but decided against it. Steve gave them a few more moments of silence, before continuing, "As for the new Loki situation...I agree with Natasha. Letting Loki go unchecked is a dangerous risk. It could end bad for all of us."

"Someone should tail him. Reel him back in." Natasha added, crossing her arms. Thor inhaled deeply once more, closing his eyes and calming himself down. "I'll go after him."

"What?" Tony asked, oblivious to the whole five minutes of conversation.

"I said I'd go after him." Thor repeated, straightening himself, "It's not like I'll be of any help in the lab anyway." Tony nodded agreeing, "Yeah, the big guys probably right." He tapped Thor's shoulders reassuringly, "Sorry buddy."

Steve nodded his head, rolling his eyes, "Whatever Tony. We just need to get back to figuring out a way to counter or disable a weapon like this." Steve motioned to the pictures of Doctor Doom's portal weapon. "Tony, Banner, get back to the lab." Steve turned to the others, "Natasha, Wanda, Hawkeye, I want you to locate where Doctor Doom has set up his base of operations." Tony huffed, "And what are you planning to do, Captain?" His voice was laced heavily with sarcasm as he raised an eyebrow at Steve. Steve smirked, tilting his head and replying, "I'm going to go talk with Fury. Thor, you go ahead and find your brother. Now let's go." With a clap of his hands, he walked away, leaving the rest of them to their own devices.

They all dwindled for a few moments, no one really saying anything to one another...as the silence began nearly unbearable, the others began to leave. Thor heard almost all of them mumbling and grumbling, complaints and whines drifting through the air as they disbanded. A few moments later, Thor was standing alone in the room, gazing at the floor. He sighed as he shook his head, walking toward the stairs as Loki had done.

He boots echoed as he descended the stairs. After a few flights he grew tired of this, so he turned to the banisters and jumped down, falling, and landing gracefully at the bottom, cape fluttering behind him before falling limply to the ground. Thor stood slowly exiting the door to the hot atmosphere of summer in New York.

Loki crouched down behind the stair well, listening to his brother's boots as Thor descended the stairs. We the footsteps stopped however, Loki's brow furrowed, as he leaned a little bit out from his hiding place to see if he could catch a glimpse of his brother.

Loki went reeling back immediately as his brother came toppling down, landing gracefully on the ground. Loki held his breath as he pressed himself against the wall as hard as possible. He hoped that the darkness behind the stairwell was enough to conceal him from his brother.

Loki observed as Thor's cape fell limply to the ground. Loki hoped that Thor would do as usual, and would not notice Loki's presence beside him.

Loki's lungs began to burn as he continued holding his breath; Thor gazed around him as if deep in thought. For a moment Loki thought that Thor might turn around, grasp him by his robes and drag him back upstairs.

But no, Thor headed toward the exit door, opening in and walking out into the warm New York air. Loki released the breath he'd been holding, struggling to keep his breathing at a steady pace. Once he had recovered his breath, he unfolded himself from his position, stretching his body, and heading back up the stairs, two at a time. He needed to get back up the the correct floor quickly, in case his brother were to return. Loki doubted this however. He knew Thor would not stop to think that maybe his brother had not really left.

Thor never read between the lines.

But Thor should know him by know...

Loki finally reached the correct floor, breathing heavily from the run up the stairs. He opened the door with caution, peeking through the crack to make sure that no one resided on this particular floor. He entered quietly. He needed to find a space they would never think to look for him. So he chose to look right under their noses. The fools.

Loki finally came to the door he was looking for. With a wave of his fingers the door unlocked, opening inwards as he entered, closing it behind him with nigh a sound. The library was larger than Loki expected, with two separate levels and shelves taller than himself. He smiled. As much as he wished to read them all, he had not the time. He ascended the steps to the upper level, finding a bookshelf against the back wall. Their was a four foot space between the top of the bookshelf and the ceiling, four feet wide, and seven feet long. Loki jumped atop it with ease, laying his body down and sliding it into the space, hiding himself from view.

He remembered all the spaces he would get into as a child, and he remembered with fondness how his mother and he would play hide and seek. She was the only one who could find him when he hid. He was good at hiding...but she was better.

After all, she had taught him.

A pain and longing tugged at his heart, but he brushed it aside with things that he needed to do. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply...feeling his magic swirl withing the confines of his mind. And suddenly he was in his mind no longer.

* * *

Tony stood at his computer, thumbing through the different 3-D designs of Doctor Doom's weapon schematic. Banner had been right when he proposed that their were several variants of possible weapon compositions. It just made his job harder. Tony yawned as he ate another pretzel of his desk. This was tiresome. He turned to gaze at Bruce, who stood at the projection screen, going over various data and properties. His progress was about the same speed as Tony's. He turned back to his own computer, wondering how he was going to choose which design to search into. After a few moments, he sighed, frustrated. "Jarvis, I need your opinion here buddy."

Within a moment Jarvis materialized on another projection screen, his distinctive voice filling the room and causing Banner to gaze over for just a moment. "What did you need, sir?"Tony gazed once more back to his screen before asking Jarvis, "Got any opinions on which variation I should use for the model?" There was a stretch of silence as Tony knew Jarvis was going over all the information, and he guessed that his computerized companion was attempting to gather more information from other sources. After the few moments of silence Jarvis spoke again, "I would suggest model schematic number three, sir." Jarvis brought up Tony's third weapon schematic on the projection screen, rotating it slowly to give Tony a view. "Based on the files we have collected on Doctor Doom, a simple weapon for a sole purpose is much more likely than something else. From the information I compared on Doctor Doom and the weapon schematics, I concluded that the third option is the most likely and the best choice of action."

Tony sat and went over Jarvis' suggestion, mulling it over carefully. He trusted Jarvis however, so he didn't think to much into it. "Thank you Jarvis, it helps quite a bit."

"No problem sir." And with that, Jarvis dissipated from the projection, leaving Tony alone in the room with Banner. He sighed, going back to his computer and selecting his third variation.

* * *

Natasha and Barton stood next to each other, gazing at the large map spread out on the table. She sighed first, tilting her head back and groaning. "This really sucks."  
"Don't you know it." Barton replied laughing, continuing to comb over the map with his eyes. "I still can't think of anywhere Doctor Doom would be hiding." Natasha rolled her eyes, raising an eyebrow at her friend, "Oh, I dunno...what about his CASTLE? The big one in the middle of nowhere that's pretty impossible to miss?"

Clint gazed over at Natasha, shaking his head, voice laced with sarcasm, "Oh no I never thought of that." He scoffed leaning back over the map, "I did think of that actually, and no, it's not plausible. He wouldn't go back somewhere where he could easily be found. No, I'm thinking he went underground, hid somewhere; with the other villains Loki mentioned."

Natasha nodded, agreeing, "Yeah, now that I think about it that's the more believable option. But how are we even going to get an idea of where he'd possibly be hiding?"

Clint smiled. "That's the fun part. We're gonna have to do some digging." Natasha smiled back at him, "Oh, that sounds like it'll be fun!"

* * *

The space around Loki warped repeatedly, until the air held a smell that reminded him of something old and molding, gray smoke wisping and twisting through the air. Loki disliked this place. He wished not to be here, but he had no choice.

Well technically...he did. Loki shrugged to himself as he walked through the narrow stone hall, toward twin oak doors, iron fixed to their frames, the same gray smoke that billowed around him in the air seeping out from under them. He pushed the door open with ease, a puff of freezing air assaulting him. But it bothered him not...the cold never bothered him.

"What brings you here, Son of Odin?" The familiar voice called to him from somewhere in the room, it's ominous tone reverberating of the stone walls. Loki smirked. He was very familiar with this voice indeed. He closed his eyes, narrowing in on the presence he felt sneak up behind him. "I am here to ask a favor of an old friend," Loki stated, turning to face her before she could sneak up behind him as he knew she had planned.

Hela stood before him, clothed in a long gray dress the very same color as the smoke in the air, her long white hair falling down past her shoulders in uncombed locks. Her eyes pierced him like a blade, curiosity shining in her dark orbs. Loki smirked, "It's been a long time, Hela."

He watched her face stretch into a smile, "Ohhhh," she whined, tapping him on the nose with a slender finger, "All this time and you come back only to ask a favor?" She feigned a pout, her face an uncomfortable closeness to his, "Such a shame..."

Loki took a step away from her, inhaling a deep breath and pushing the growing impatience from his mind. "I apologize deeply my lady fro such a visit, but you see, I am in quite the tight spot and I hoped that perhaps...you could do me the great honor of lending me a hand." Hela gazed at him with a raised eyebrow, eying him in a way that made the hair on the back of his neck prickle. He dislike being in her presence for too long. He also disliked the way this place sapped power and magic from him like a tick. The air here was heavy.

Finally after a few moments of consideration, Hela responded, in a rather cheery tone, "I suppose I could spare a favor for my favorite asgardian..." Loki couldn't help but roll his eyes. Hela continued, "What favor do you ask of me, Loki?"

Loki gazed around the room as he carefully constructed a response, and that was when he caught what he was looking for in his eye. He carefully avoided looking at it so as not to draw her suspicion, so instead he gazed back into her eyes, holding her icy stare. "I have an... _enemy_ of sorts, that threatens not only my home but Midgard and possibly the whole nine realms as well. I was simply curious if...IF I so needed it...may I rely on your assistance?"

Hela was quiet for a long while, simply gazing around, eyes shifting from Loki's to the ground, to the wall, and so forth. For a moment Loki doubted himself. Maybe he had not been convincing. He could not deny that he had flustered over himself a bit during his request. He could have kicked himself, but he simply inhaled slowly and anxiously awaited the Goddess of Death's response.

After a few more moments of her intense staring, she cracked an unexpected smile, speaking finally with a cheeriness that made him nervous. "Alright, God of Mischief, I will assist you should you so need. I will listen for your call."

Loki let out the breath he'd been holding. This was good, things were still moving according to plan. He just needed one more thing. He smiled back at her, bowing slightly, "I appreciate it, my lovely Goddess." He leaned toward her, gripping her cold face in both of his hands, pressing a delicate kiss to her icy lips. As he pulled away from her he spoke, "There is just one more thing I need from you my dear."

"And what is it, Darling?"

"I need you to write down what words I need to say to call you to me." He chuckled, backing away from her, "I wouldn't want to get it wrong after all, you know?"

Hela nodded, smiling, "Alright, I shall return in but a moment." And with that, Hela turned her back and disappeared out of the room. Loki moved immediately. He only had one chance, and he only had a short amount of time. He crossed the room quickly, casting a spell over himself so as to mask his movements from the Goddess. He gasped at the change in temperature as he neared the pedestal. A magical hum emanated from the relic before him, and for a moment he marveled at the power that was held before him. He reached out carefully, delicately opening the leather cover, the power surging through his fingers and leaving his body tingling.

The timer in his head was counting down with each second, as he swept through the pages, searching for the one he knew would be there.

After a few seconds, he stopped, gazing at the page. He knew it was there, but seeing it for himself was something different. There was his name, scrawled out on the page, and below his, his brother's. Above his, his father's. And above his father's...his mother's name lay...But her name was different from the rest he realized. A small check was placed beside it...he knew what it meant, although he pushed it from his mind. He could not afford his emotions to mess with his plans.

He had only a few ore moments. He grabbed the pencil that lay beside the book, and he felt the power shot up through his arm as he put it to the book.

With a few quick strokes of the eraser, his name was gone. He knew he must write it again or in a few moments he would cease to exist. He scrawled the name once more back onto the page, but this time it was different. He wrote it backwards. Ikol, now stood in the place of Loki. He had done it! He had changed it successfully!

He had doubted his plan slightly, but he was overjoyed that he had been correct. He went to return the pencil to it's place, but hesitated just a moment. Reluctantly his gaze shifted back to the page, his brother's name standing out on the page like a neon light. He gazed at for a few more moments, every ounce of his being screaming out to him to hurry and leave, but with an irritated growl he turned back to the book, with a few strokes of the pencil, his brother's name stared back at him, changed as his was. It place of his brother's name stood Roht, the new names glow diminishing as Loki closed the book quickly, returning to his place at the other side of the room, dismissing the spell that cloaked him.

Just as he had taken his place Hela returned, stopping to gaze at him incredulously, before she drifted over to hand him a piece of delicate parchment, with words scrawled on it.

She smiled once more, "If you should need my assistance, simply call out these words and I shall be there." Loki nodded thanking her, as he exited the door toward the portal back to his own body.

He laughed, and he knew he would be returning here all to soon. For the delicate writing on the inside of the book's cover had caught his eye.

 _Whosoever holds this book, shall control the legions of the dead...Thus controlling life itself._


	5. The Anti-Hero

Loki headed for the door to exit the library, a smile playing on his face. His mood had lightened considerably; he had indeed not expected his plan to go down properly, let alone so easily! He walked with a skip in his step as he opened the door quickly.

"Woah!"

The two collided, sending Tony to the floor and Loki stumbling backward, waving his arms and trying desperately to regain his balance. Once he had righted himself Loki looked toward Tony condescendingly, a look of irritation on his face that he cared not to hide. Tony on the other hand, simply sat on the ground dazed, gazing up at Loki dumbly.

"What...Loki?" Tony asked stupidly, standing with a bit of difficulty, rubbing his backside as he did so. Loki simply continued to glare death at him, wishing silently for his demise in the most painful ofbut ways. "What?" Was Loki's curt reply, his patience with this man already wearing thin. They stared at each other for a few more moments, as Loki deadpanned at Tony and awaited him to continue. After a few more agonizing seconds he finally spoke. "Well," Tony began, stretching out his back, "Thor left awhile ago. He went looking for you I think they were afraid you'd run off or something like that."

Loki rolled his eyes at this man's incompetence. "Yes, yes, I already know this." Tony nodded in understanding, "Also," he continued, "I believe Steve will be taking you with him later on to get the new recruits." Loki simply sighed, trying his best not to, with a wave of his hand, end this man; he simply took more deep breaths to calm himself as he spoke in the nicest tone possible, "I understand this. I was simply looking at your reading material. Now I believe I am needed elsewhere." As Loki turned to leave with a huff, he remembered something else he'd been wondering about. He turned back to Tony for a moment, "By the way," Loki asked, eying Tony carefully, "What ever happened to the scepter?"

Tony was silent for a long while, before shrugging, "Well...the mind stone inside of it was... _taken,_ but the rest of it's still intact. I think it's in a case in the lab now..." Tony rubbed the back of his head adding, "I probably shouldn't tell you but I don't really see the harm in it. Anyway," he yawned, "I should get back into the library, I was needing some research material for this weapon model." And with that Tony disappeared back into the library, leaving a smirking Loki in the hall, gazing at the closed library doors. That man was so easy to manipulate it was almost funny to Loki. He shook his head as he walked toward the staircase.

He wondered where Thor was. He had watched the buffoon leave the building a few hours ago, and if Loki knew his brother...and he _did,_ Thor would not have thought to return and check the tower. So he guessed that his brother remained somewhere out in the city, most likely still searching for him. Loki shook his head as continued down the stairs, his boots making far less sound than his brother's.

For a moment Loki almost missed his brother's companionship, but he quickly forbade himself from going down that path.

When he reached the correct floor, he entered quietly, heading in the direction of the lab. When he finally caught sight of it, he slinked back, and cursed. Banner still stood in the lab, working diligently on whatever was on the desk in front of him.

Loki watched him for a few long moments, trying to figure out how to lure the man away long enough to get what he wanted.

Just as his plan began to form, he felt a cold presence behind him. He reeled around, facing whatever was intruding on him, magic ready at his fingertips. Wanda stood gazing back at him, red eyes ablaze with curiousity.

"What are you doing?"

Loki swallowed with difficulty, "I am...well I...require something from the lab." She watched him as she listened to his words before speaking herself, "You mean steal something?" She asked, placing a hand on her hip. Loki gulped again, eyes darting around, worried that this woman would present herself a problem.

"No, no, I assure you not to steal... _They_ have stolen from _me_ , you see? There is a scepter in the lab that belongs to me. I simply wish to reacquire it with the least resistance possible. Surely you follow?" He hoped his explanation was enough to sway her. She stayed silent for awhile, every passing second building the worry in the pit of Loki's stomach.

Finally, she spoke. "I see... _you_ own the scepter..." Loki nodded in agreement eagerly, hoping that he had convinced her enough. But she continued speaking, "Alright. Let me assist."

"Wait, what?" Loki asked stunned as she passed him nonchalantly. She called back over her shoulder quietly, "Be ready to move on my signal."

Loki stood dazedly, gazing after her as she entered the lab. Anger built quickly within him. Who did she think she was? Loki watched her angrily as she moved behind Bruce. Within moments, red strands of magic escaped her fingers, unbeknownst to Bruce, as they entered his head. Now Loki's fury was being replaced by curiosity. He envied her ability. Suddenly Bruce was as unaware as a blind man. Quickly, she waved Loki over, pointing to a case in the corner of the lab.

Loki moved quickly, feet fluttering across the tile floor as he was in the lab in seconds, running toward the case as Wanda kept Bruce unawares.

He almost lost his breath as he saw it. His scepter. He was glad the mind stone was gone however. He was happy that his mind was now his own. The stone had controlled him for far too long. With a wave of his fingers the case unlocked itself, and he opened it quietly, the lid creaking on it's hinges. Delicately Loki reached into the case, fingers grasping the cool but familiar metal of his weapon. He lifted it easily, removing it from the case, and returning the lid to it's closed position. He silently thanked Tony for his carelessness, for because of stupidity Loki had recovered his favorite weapon.

He gave the weapon a few experimental swings, happy with the familiarity and balance of it.

Loki gazed over to Scarlet Witch, who motioned for him to hurry.

Loki held fast with his grip on the scepter as he scurried from the room, Wanda close on his heels. Once they were a good distance away, they slowed, both giggling delightedly. Loki turned to her, attempting to stifle his laughs, "That was...helpful. I appreciate the assistance."

Wanda nodded, "Of course. I quite enjoy using my talents. I don't always get to do so." She motioned to his scepter, "And you've recovered your weapon, so all is well now, yes?"

Loki nodded. "Yes."

"What will you do with the weapon now? It's source of power has been removed." Loki considered her question greatly. He had had an idea, and had been working on it since a few days before his arrival. He smiled mischievously, "Ah, I have taken great consideration to that. I have created a suitable replacement for the scepter...In case I should so need a weapon with which to fight."

"No doubt there will be fighting if your information was correct."

Loki nodded in agreement, smiling, "Oh there will be. I'm counting on it." And with that, Loki headed off in his own direction, leaving Wanda standing in the hall, eyes wide. What Loki had said echoed in her mind, and a feeling of unrest began to rise in her chest.

"Loki!"

The thundering roar caught his attention immediately, and he turned his gaze lazily to the elevator door, where Thor was thundering out of, toward him angrily. Thor marched toward his brother, who sat comfortably on the leather sofa, watching cartoons on the television lazily. "Loki! I've been looking for you all day!" Once Thor reached the couch, he grabbed his brother by his robes, lifting him to his feet, Loki letting out a squeak in protest.

"Brother, what is the meaning of this?!" Loki questioned angrily, swiping Thor's arm from his shoulder. Thor continued with his ranting, Loki's question going unheard. "I've been searching all day, brother! Where have you been? I've been worried about you!"

Loki watched as his brothers expression changed from one of anger to one of worry. Loki squinted harder at his brother, before his gaze finally softened, and he sighed. He spoke quietly, voice laced heavily with sarcasm, "I don't know, _brother._ Did your tiny brain ever think to look _inside_ the tower?"

"You never left?"

"I never left."

Thor stood there stupidly, a confused look on his face. Loki watched, amused, as his brother's face changed from confused to amused. Thor laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh...well no, I never did think of that," Thor mused, laughing loudly at his own mistake. Loki rolled his eyes, brushing his robe off irritatedly and sitting back on the sofa, thinking just how much of a tool his brother really was.

"Well I apologize Loki, I never really did think of that possibility." Thor sat heavily beside him, leaning back and sighing heavily. Loki simply deadpanned at the television, trying his best to ignore his oafish brother.

But Thor would have none of that.

"So Loki, I ask why you left earlier? We did not mean to upset you."

Loki sighed, wishing his brother would take a hint and leave, but he was not so lucky. He answered stiffly "I left because I was tired of listening to pointless arguments. I had better things to do anyway. I have taken care of them accordingly, so I have returned. Simple. It is not my fault you are all useless beings who are wastes of space."

Thor gazed at his brother, eyebrow raised, "Do you really think of me as a waste of space, Loki?"

"Yes." Was the curt reply.

Thor shook his head, "Brother, it saddens me that our relationship has been broken so...We used to be so close..." Thor turned to his brother, gazing into familiar emerald eyes, "What happened to us, brother?"

Loki avoided his brother's gaze, unsure of how he was to answer that question. In truth, he wished not to answer. But a small half of him also wished to address this question, that had been nagging at both of them for so long. He sighed deeply, resigning himself to speak, although he carefully monitored what he was saying. "You wish the truth from me brother?" Loki asked, and watched as Thor nodded in agreement. Loki continued, "It saddens me also. But we cannot be the same."

"But why not?" Thor exclaimed, his emotions getting the better of his brother, as they usually did. "Because," Loki answered, "I am no longer the same."

There was a perpetual silence as the two sat together for a long while, neither saying anything more, but just enjoying each others rare company. It was awkward, but Loki could not deny the growing feeling of contentment within him.

And something in the back of his mind screamed at him that this, _this,_ right here, was worth more than any throne he could imagine.

The pain in his heart throbbed once more, but this time it's pain was lessened. Loki sighed, gazing at his brother from the corner of his eye. Thor sat, smiling at the television, sitting beside him with a look of happiness and contentment, as Loki had always seen it all those years ago.

* * *

" _Thor!"_

" _Thooooor!"_

" _Thoooooooooor!"_

 _He rounded a corner, his feet slapping the ornate stone floor, hand brushing against the golden walls as he ran. He loved the feeling of running, his hair blowing back out of his face. He turned another corner a little to fast, slamming into something far sturdier than he was, throwing him backward onto the floor, his head cracking off it loudly. "Ah!"_

" _Brother! Are you alright?"_

 _He opened his eyes at the voice, wincing as he sat up slowly, rubbing the sore part of his head as he searched for the voice. And sure enough, it emanated from what he had run into. His older brother stood before him, a whole head and shoulders taller after a growth spurt he'd had recently. He feigned ignorance as he stood up slowly, "I'm fine, I don't know what you speak of, Thor."_

 _His brother laughed heartily, "Sure, Loki, sure you don't." Loki winced as Thor ran a larger hand over the sore spot of his head. "Ouch!"_

" _See," Thor said, patting Loki on the shoulder. "It hurts." Loki simply pouted, sighing, "I lied. It hurts."_

 _Thor simply smiled. "I know brother, I know." Loki smiled at his brother's hearty laughter, and leaned into Thor as his brother rubbed his head. Thor spoke up now as he turned away, "Come now, Loki, let's find the others." And with that his older brother was off, running through the halls of the palace. Loki knew where his brother was headed; to the training grounds. Loki smiled as he chased after his idol._

* * *

Loki was pulled from his flashback by Tony's voice. He turned to see what was causing such a commotion. Thor was gazing at Tony, who stood in the middle of the room , looking exasperated. Thor was the first to speak, asking, "What is the matter, Man of Iron?"

"In the lab! Loki's scepter, it's gone!"

Loki stood from his chair, followed by Thor as they turned fully to Tony. "What do you mean, it's gone?" Thor asked, as Tony gazed around the room worriedly. Loki simply stood amused, scepter in hand. Tony continued, "It's been removed from the case. It's just gone!" Loki rolled his eyes, and waved the scepter in the air as he spoke, "Man of Iron, I ask you, is this what you are searching fo-"

"Not now Loki!" Tony huffed, dismissing him with a wave of his hand, "And put down that scepter, I'm trying to find it!" With that, Tony stormed from the room, the door closing behind him as he went. There was a long silence, as Thor and Loki turned to look at one another. In a few seconds, they were both hooting in laughter.

Their laughter resonated off the walls for several minutes, until finally they began to quiet down, the occasional giggle escaping both of them. "Oh, I miss this brother." Thor said as he patted Loki on the back. Loki simply laughed in response, patting Thor on the shoulder in response, trying to steady is own breathing.

"Do you think he'll figure it out?" Loki asked, the occasional giggle still escaping his mouth.

"Aye. He'll be back...probably." Thor responded, shaking his head and smiling.

* * *

Wanda sat on her bed quietly, the door to her room closed and locked. The room was dark. She had turned the lights off minutes ago. She swung her feet idly to and fro, leaning back against the bed. She did not like this. She could not get the newly arrived Asgardian out of her mind. Loki his name was, she remembered.

He had been on her mind since they had had their first little sparring session. His power intrigued her. She wondered what kind of power he held. She figured he held power that she could not even imagine. She wished for him to teach her. She had never met anyone who held any power similar to hers. It intrigued her, and she could not deny that she felt a little less alone in this world now...at least since her brother had passed.

The thought dug deep into her heart, and the tears began to well up in her eyes, but she pushed them aside. She still considered herself dead. She had died when her brother had died. But this strange man gave her feelings that made her feel alive. She hated him for it. She had thought for a moment during their session that he might kiss her, and what disgusted her most was that she would have let him. He intrigued her, and he was not at all ugly.

The others had warned her however, to be wary of the trickster. He was a manipulator, a liar, a trickster. They had called him the God of Mischief.

And she believed it. She sighed. Two could play at the game of manipulation, and she had just as good a foothold on it as he...

* * *

"Loki!"

Loki turned as he heard his name, to see Steve enter the room, fully suited, shield in hand. "What is it, Captain?" Loki asked, sarcastically. Steve sighed, "Our agreement, remember? We're going to get some new recruits." The smile that played across Loki's face quickly vanished as he remembered their deal. He wished that he had not agreed, but he had had no choice. With a roll of his eyes and swish of his hand he moved past Tony toward the elevator. "Fine, let's go."

A long while of silence and about twenty minutes worth of driving later, they arrived at their destination. Loki did not think it was that impressive. It was a large building that looked more like a bunker, and Steve had mentioned that it was where they tested and picked their new recruits. Loki was curious as to who these new recruits were. So he asked, "So, who are these fresh meats anyway?"

Steve chuckled at Loki's analogy, before answering, "Ah, some close friends is all. They've already been accepted. We're taking them back to the tower for sure today." Loki nodded at Steve, trailing closely behind him as they entered the building. When they arrived at the correct door, Steve turned to him and said, "You might wanna suit up, look a little intimidating."

Loki smiled widely, nodding, and with a twirl of his body, he donned his golden armor, the helmet on his head sending a delightful feeling down his spine. He smiled as Steve turned to him, "You ready?" Loki nodded.

Steve opened the door and they entered, Loki materializing in his hand as he entered and came to a stop. Steve spoke first, voice loud and commanding, "Alright guys, we appreciate your help and we can't wait to have you."

Loki went to speak again, but was stunned into silence at the faces before him. "No..."

"You!" Jane stood before him, along with Darcy and Eric Selvig. "Loki!" Loki's eyes widened as Jane ran toward him, and for a moment he thought she might strike him again, but instead he felt her arms wrap around him in a tight hug. H e stiffened in surprise. "I thought you were dead!" Loki laughed, patting her awkwardly on the back and wishing the contact would end, "You wish."

Jane smiled at him, "Thor must be so happy."

"He is."

Loki watched her as she leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek, "Thanks for, you know, saving my life and all." A blush crossed his face quickly, and Darcy yelled from her place behind Jane, "Hey! You already have a hunky Asgardian! That ones MINE!"

Loki watched as Jane returned to her place, and he wondered how awkward this was going to be. Steve turned to him in surprise, "You know them?" Loki nodded, "Unfortunately. They are friends of my brother."

"What was up with," Steve motioned to his face, "That?"

Loki simply laughed. "I, helped save her life once." Steve was taken aback. "YOU, helped save someones life? And your brother's girlfriend no less?" Loki nodded.

"So, you're not always the bad guy? You a hero now too?"

Loki smiled and shook his head, "Not exactly. I'd say I'm more of an... _anti-hero."_


	6. Not Going According to Plan

Thor sat, shifting uncomfortably on the sofa, Jane a few feet away from him, seated comfortably in a recliner, gazing at him with an awkward like stare. She had arrived moments earlier, much to the thunder God's surprise; along with Darcy and Erik Selvig. When Thor had heard her intention of joining their team, and especially when he had heard that she had seen Loki, he could say that he'd been less than thrilled. Now here they sat, in an awkward silence as they glanced around the room at everywhere but each other.

"Ah, the loveliness of _relationships_ , eh, brother?" Loki's mocking tone resounded throughout the room as he walked past the couch, leaning over just a bit to mutter it into his older brother's unsuspecting ear. Thor cringed, his brother's taunting voice ringing in his ears. He sighed angrily, rolling his eyes and trying his best to ignore his younger brother's taunts.

Loki leaned against the bar behind them nonchalantly, gazing with a glint in his eye and a lopsided smile plastered on his pale face.

Thor simply huffed and gazed back at Jane, who sat looking rather amused. Loki however, took this as a sign to continue the banter, "Is something wrong brother?" He asked innocently, trying his best to convey his 'innocent' face. He thought that he'd pulled it off rather well; but his brother looked rather disbelieving. Jane was the first of the new found 'trio' to speak, her voice laced with humor and a slight irritation, "Anyway...back to the discussion we had before Loki entered..."

"What conversation? From what I glimpsed I'd have thought you two were sitting in pandemic silence."

Loki received glares from each of them, and even though he was having a tad too much fun, he relinquished in good humor, shrugging and backing away so as to leave the two alone like he knew they desperately had wanted. He pushed the door open silently as he whisked through it, his boots a mere wind sweep on the floor. The booming voice on the intercom startled him as it resounded throughout the empty hallway, and Loki recognized the voice immediately. "Loki, report to the training room immediately, please?" Natasha's smooth voice rang out through the device, before cutting off and leaving his ears slightly ringing in the silence. He sighed heavily, rolling his eyes. What a bore. He did not doubt that she wished only for him to assist her with Darcy and Selvig. Or perhaps even Wanda. Natasha had told him that she had recently been appointed as an instructor, so she now called him frequently for assistance in such trivial matters as these.

They were a bore to him honestly, he could see no reason to train such pathetic mortals anyhow, their deaths would be upon them soon anyway.

Loki saw no point in the trivial lives of mortals. He simply saw no reasoning behind their pitiful existence. He pondered this thoroughly as he arrived at the training room; and he remembered fondly his first magical encounter with the Scarlet Witch. He spotted Natasha as he entered, her slender form standing next to Darcy, who looked overly excited, and beside Darcy, Loki was surprised to find Wanda, who face said that she didn't really want to be there.

Loki found amusement in this as he approached, opening his mouth to speak, but being cut of by Natasha. "Good, you're here. I've been working in here for ten minutes. You care to try and do something with these?" She motioned around herself at Darcy and Wanda, "I couldn't. I'll send someone in to help you in a bit." She grumbled angrily as she walked away, and Loki couldn't help but snicker as she passed.

She cast him the evil eye but continued on her way unhindered by the trickster. After she had gone, Loki sighed, gazing at the pair in front of him. He sighed again, this time more obviously...two people he didn't really want to see right now stood before him, Darcy looking rather excited, gazing at him strangely, and Wanda standing beside her, arms crossed, looking bored. They all stood awkwardly in front of each other for a few long moments, before Loki finally decided on a course of action to take...regardless of whether he wished to or not.

He cleared his throat and straightened up, taking a deep breath in before he spoke, "Alright guys..." The silence continued as his silver tongue faltered. He shook his head, recovering quickly, "I'm here to replace Natasha." His gaze shifted between the two, "What was she trying to teach...you...two?"

This was pathetic.

Darcy was the first to answer, her voice laced with a sultry tone, "She was like, trying to teach us some basic defense and offense stuff...or something." Loki simply gazed back at her, eyes half lidded, boredom threatening to overtake him. He huffed, "A little more specific, please?" He asked as nicely as possible. The two simply stared at him dumbly, before finally Wanda spoke, irritatedly, "She was teaching us the basics. She showed us some basic defensive moves with our forearms, and some basic kicks with our shins, and she showed us some punches. It was rather dull."

"Dull? I thought it was difficult." Darcy complained, shifting on her feet. Loki finally had had enough. The thought that they were completely hopeless crossed his mind, but he pushed it aside. This would be like every other challenge he had faced.

He would do it with elegance, grace, and dignity. He spoke once more, voice holding a more authoritative quality than before, "Alright. Well, we do things differently in Asgard. I'm going to show you a few of the 'basics', as you put it. I'd like to see how well you perform before I decide what level of skill you need to be taught at."

Before he could continue, Wanda interrupted him, "How do they do it in Asgard, exactly?"

"Differently." Was Loki's curt reply as he stepped back a few feet. He smirked as he felt his magic magnify within him, he stepped to the side, feeling the magic pull from his being, and he turned to watch as a carbon copy of himself solidify beside him. Darcy watched, mouth ajar, in awe as his copy turned to the two women, smiling as he usually did himself. Second, with a twitch of his fingers and a bit of magic, his armor materialized around him and the clone.

"Holy shit." Darcy muttered, staring wide eyed at Loki with a look of attraction plastered obviously on her face. Loki simply smiled. He loved the admiration the mortals always inevitably gave. He remembered the daze when he could make them bow before him and worship him with a simple magical spell.

"Now, who wants to go first?"

The girls stayed silent for a long time, gazing back and forth at one another, before Darcy shrugged and walked up toward him, "I will. Tell me what to do, handsome."

Loki rolled his eyes, stepping away from her and watching as the clone took his place. For a moment Darcy looked confused, "What?"

Loki smiled, laughing, as his clone readied itself before her, "Oh, my apologies but, I'd prefer to refrain from putting my actual form in danger."

"Oh, I'm dangerous am I?" Darcy asked, jokingly.

"Perhaps." Loki answered, a small smile playing on his face. He watched as her light skinned face lit up with joy. He could not deny that she was attractive...for a mortal. He spoke again, voice fluid, "Now, hit me as hard as you can with your fist."

"That's it?"

"Yes."

Darcy was silent for a longer while, before speaking, "Where?" She gazed at his clone incredulously from head to toe, and Loki worried that she was enjoying the view a little too much. He rolled his eyes in annoyance again, "I do not know...in the face. Strike me in the face with your fist as hard as you can."

Loki watched as Darcy's eyes grew to an impossibly large size, and she hesitated, before stuttering, "I...I don't want..I..."

"Just do it. Are you going to say that to the enemy? If you were a threat to me, I would not hesitate to strike you. Now you do the same. Strike me!" He watched her hesitate more, and the irritation inside of himself began to grow and he forced himself to swallow it once more, walking over to stand behind her. She gazed back at him, her heart fluttering at his closeness. Loki waited for the clone to position itself in a defensive stance, before he reached around and grabbed Darcy's arm gently, pulling it back to the proper pre strike position. Darcy could hardly breath. The large Asgardian behind her held her full attention, her heart beating faster and the skin where his hand gripped her tingled incessantly.

She held her breath as she felt him move for her, pulling her arm back.

She felt his strength channel through her, the sheer force of which surprised her, and then suddenly her arm was reaching out, and she winced in pain as her fist connected with a strong cheekbone, Loki's clone's head jerking to the side, but otherwise staying rooted in place.

Darcy was surprise when her fist actually touched the thing. She assumed that it was a trick, but instead the clone felt as real as the true Loki. She marveled at this, before smiling and, much to Loki's surprise, she reached out once more on her own, her fist connecting with the clone's jawline, this time sending the clone staggering for a few moments.

"That was impressive." Loki's voice praised, Darcy's heart fluttering. She was loving this.

Wanda stood to the side, arms crossed as she watched Loki teach the other woman. She watched him as he stood behind Darcy, guiding her movements with a grace that attracted her. But as she watched a continual irritation rose rapidly within her as she watched them. Who was this girl anyway? Why was she even here? Wanda had magical abilities. What did Darcy have? Nothing. So why was Loki even wasting his time trying to teach her?

She huffed, getting angrier and angrier as the seconds ticked by.

"Do you see what I mean? It's easy," Loki whispered to Darcy, leaning around from behind her. She turned to look at him smiling, "Yeah, it's super easy."

Wanda watched as Loki's face got a little to close to Darcy's, and she listened as he whispered he'd told her so. And then suddenly Wanda had had enough. She moved from her perch against the wall, storming over to where the two stood, gathering her red magic in her hand as she walked. Darcy and Loki turned to her in surprise, eyes wide as she approached, the magic in her hand spiraling and building, the red wisps lashing out of the sphere as the power increased. With an angry howl, she shot the magic out of her palm, releasing the ball as it spiraled out of her palm, connecting with the face of the unsuspecting clone, it's eyes wide in surprise.

The clone let out a scream as the ball exploded in it's face, and Wanda watched in fury as the clone dissipated in a burst of green magic, her magic slowly dissipating in the air, the two colors mixing together, dancing in the air. She turned slowly to Loki and Darcy, who stood aghast, gazing at her with wide eyes.

With fury still in her belly she walked over to Loki, pushing Darcy roughly out of the way, reaching up to grab the tall man's collar, pulling him down to face her, crashing their mouths together roughly. Loki simply stood stark still for a few moments, in shock. His mind was not conveniently processing what it was that was happening. But after a few moments Wanda felt Loki's lips move back against her own, quite a bit more gently then hers hand been, and her eyes fluttered close.

A few more seconds and Loki pulled away, trying to catch the breath that had been stolen from him. Wanda simply backed away, more shocked at what she had done than anything. She cast her gaze to the floor, before sending Darcy a nasty look and storming out the door.

"Wanda!" Wanda could hear Loki calling her from somewhere behind, but she ignored it as the tears welled up in her eyes and the door closed behind her.

Loki stood in shock, watching the door swing back and forth on it's hinges, the spot where Wanda once occupied empty. "Jeez, what's her problem?"Darcy asked, voice raspy as she brushed the invisible dirt from her clothing. Loki simply shook his head, "I do not know." He got the overwhelming urge to go after her, but he stayed rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do. He knew he was supposed to stay with Darcy, but then again...if he was a teacher, then one of his students just when AWOL. So wasn't it his responsibility to bring her back?

"You okay?" Darcy asked, looking at Loki with concern, "She was acting pretty crazy."

Loki nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay." He was silent for a few seconds before he answered, finally moving from his space, "I'll go after her." Darcy went to object, but Loki was already gone, his feet carrying him with a haste he could not answer for.

He pushed his way out the door, looking for something to follow her by. And that was when he noticed it. Her magic had a habit of seeping from her when she was upset. He could feel it in the air, in tickled is senses subtly as he walked, following the currents of magic through the hallways and corridors of the large building, his feet silent as he moved. Finally the trail led him to a door he recognized as her bedroom. He stood outside the door for a few awkward moments, trying his best to decide what he wished to do. Part of him wanted to speak with her, but another part of him screamed at him to run, run far away and distance himself from her as much as possible.

He sighed, giving in to himself. He wrapped his hand around the cold doorknob, twisting gently and opening the door quietly. "Wanda?" Loki called as he entered the room. Wanda sat on her bed, and Loki watched the tears drip from her eyes slowly, and he felt a pang of regret for what had happened; but mostly confusion.

"You...wanna tell me what happened back there, Witch?" Loki asked, his voice coming out a little harsher than he had originally intended. Wanda flinched for a moment, before sighing and answering quietly, "I'm sorry."

Loki was taken aback for a moment. Someone else apologizing to him was...unusual to say the least. But a part of him was touched that she had. He sighed, whatever anger and irritation that had resided in him toward her disappeared, and he softened his gaze as he spoke, "It's...alright." He swallowed, taking a breath before he continued, "Why do you...cry?"

Wanda looked up at him, straightening herself and wiping away her tears quickly, "I..I do not cry. I was simply angry. That is all. I apologize for earlier, now if you do not mind, please leave."

"Leave? Do you really wish me to leave?" Loki asked, heading for the door, hand outstretched and fingers wrapping slowly around the knob, voice lowered and quiet, "Or...is it possible...that you truly wish," he gazed at her from the corner of his eyes, emerald green shining brightly in the dark, "for me to stay?"

Wanda gasped, gazing up at him with large red eyes, and Loki could see the tears welled up inside them, making her beautiful eyes shimmer in the low lighting. "I...I..." She could not think of the words to say. Was it possible that he was correct?

Loki waited for a few more moments, before beginning to turn the knob once more, "Alright, as you wish, my lady."

"Wait!"

Loki froze in place at the sound of her voice, a satisfied smile crossing his face, he turned to look at her over his shoulder, wiping the smile from himself before she could catch sight of it, "Yes?" His voice held a mocking tone that he could not completely erase. Wanda waited a moment, casting her eyes to the floor. She could not bring herself to look into his gaze. After a few more seconds she spoke, so low that Loki almost did not hear her. "Stay."

A triumphant smirk took Loki's face as he removed his hand from the door, stepping away from it and turning to her, replacing his smirk with a mask of concern that made him wish to vomit. He walked over to her silently, looking down upon her, "Now...will you tell me exactly what happened back there? I believe I deserve an answer for such a display. If you do not remember, I am a prince of Asgard." At those words her eyes widened just a little bit more, and it reminded Loki vaguely of a scared kitten. He waited patiently, but when she still did not answer him, he sighed, defeated.

With a snap of his fingers his armor vanished, being replaced by his normal robed garb, and he then crouched down in front of her, his face level with her own. She still did not look at him, but continued to stare at a spot on the carpet, eyes large and welled with tears. But Loki was surprised that none of them spilled over.

Loki's gaze softened once more, and he cursed himself for this display of softness, but he reached forth, gripping her chin gently with his fingers; and slowly, he lifted her head until she was looking at him, matching his gaze. He held her there firmly, and she tried vainly to turn her head, but he held her head firmly in place, continuing to gaze at her. He waited for a few more seconds, before she sighed, gazing at him almost angrily, her dark brows knitted together in a frown of consternation.

"Fine, I shall explain my actions."

"Thank you." Was Loki's response, and he gently released her chin from his grip, lowering his arm and watching her, waiting fro her to respond. She gazed at the floor once more, closing her eyes for a few moments, before reopening them, her voice soft and quiet, "I do not know what came over me. It was...a moment of weakness. It shall not happen again."

"Weakness? What would this weakness you spoke of be?" Loki asked, voice as smooth as silk. She continued, although reluctantly, "I...I..." She could not finish her sentence, as her face slowly turned a dark shade of red that almost matched her magic.

Loki continued, smiling widely. He knew what she spoke of, "Is it really a weakness?" Wanda nodded, blushing brightly, the tears in her eyes slowly receding as Loki continued speaking, "I do not blame you. We are like Gods in your eyes...it's inevitable..." His voice trailed off as he leaned toward her, capturing her chin once more, and watching in amusement as her eyes widened to another impossible size.

"I...well..." Wanda cursed herself, losing the words she did not really wish to say. And before she could try again, she felt his lips on hers, soft and warm, and her eyes fluttered closed. Loki's lips stretched into a smile as their lips meshed together, and for a long moment the kiss continued, before Loki pulled away slowly, his fingers still gripping her chin.

She gazed back at him, a light pink blush gracing her cheeks, her eyes wide in surprise. "What...I..."

Loki pressed a thumb to her lips, smiling charmingly, putting his lips close to her ear and whispering, in his best velvety voice, "I know why you did what you did...Don't say a word...I can see _through_ you." And with that, he released her, standing from his crouching position in front of her, turning and heading to the door, reaching out toward the doorknob, but her voice stopped him.

"The crying...I was...remembering my brother." These words stopped Loki for a moment, so he asked, curiously, "You're...brother?" He thought for a long moment before remembering, "Ah, the Quicksilver?" He watched as Wanda nodded, "Yes."

"I see...I am sorry about that..." Loki made a mental note of it as he turned the knob and opened the door; Wanda sat in awe as she watched his large form disappear as the door closed behind him.

* * *

Loki leaned backward against the large wooden door, eyes large as he took a slow, deep breath. "Ohhhh...shit." Loki took another deep, shaky breath, pondering what he had just done. His heartbeat accelerated slightly. He had made a very large mistake. Had he? He growled in frustration, anger flooding his veins like hot iron, the hand that still gripped the doorknob clenched tighter; that's when he felt it. The ice that now covered the doorknob and spread quickly across the door. Loki stepped away from the door quickly, horrified. He gulped, trying to calm himself as he swiped his hand in front of himself, effectively destroying the layer of ice that had overtaken the door. He gazed at his hand, which looked normal. He inhaled hard through his nose, lowering his hands and turning toward the hall. It had been happening more and more since he'd first found out about his...heritage. It worried him. Sometimes he thought he'd wake up one day and he'd been like the rest of those...monsters. But he knew hwy he remained the same. The Allfather's magic held his true nature at bay, and so far Loki had found no way to bypass or remove it. The only time he had ever since the magical seal falter was at certain times of extreme emotional stress.

He worried for himself more and more as this continued happening and worsening. He shook his head to rid himself of the worrisome thoughts and the anger, as he continued his brisk walk away from Wanda's door. And for the first time since he arrived, he felt as if things weren't going according to his plan...


	7. Where the Hell is Clint?

"So," Natasha's voice was laced with tiredness as she rubbed it from her eyes, "What are we gonna do for today? I mean it is Steve's birthday today." Tony nodded in agreement as he continued typing on his laptop. He thought for a few moments before answering, "Well, I say we buy him a gift, make him a cake, and will have a little...celebration party tonight. What do you think?"

Natasha deadpanned at Tony, yawning, "You know how hard Steve is to shop for?"

"Yeah," Tony smiled, "That's why I'm sending you."

Natasha huffed, rolling her eyes and giving Tony an irritated 'whatever' as she left the room. Tony simply sat smiling from ear to ear. At least he didn't have to do it. He hated gift shopping. He'd usually have Pepper do the gift shopping for him. He figured Natasha could do it this time.

He had finally made the 3-D model a reality. The premise of this weapon was so powerful that Tony feared that Doctor Doom could actually create a portal like the one in Manhattan. Selvig had visited the lab multiple times since his arrival, and had helped with the creation of the model considerable. Tony looked to his left where the model sat, made of carbon and plastic.

Selvig had made tweaks and adjustments, and now the model sat, completed. Tony had run the information, and this weapon was most likely the model that Doctor Doom was constructing himself. Now, all Tony had left to do was to use Erik Selvig and find a way to deactivate such a weapon. They needed to find a way to shut it down, or counter it.

Tony was happy with their progress now. Since Erik arrived, Banner and his work had sped up considerably. He couldn't wait until they completed their work. It would make everybody be less on edge.

Tony gazed to his right, where a map sat with a circle around the location of where Natasha and Clint presumed Doom's base was. He rolled his eyes. They couldn't do any kind of attack on the base until they found a way to deactivate the weapon.

Tony winced when he thought of how badly deactivating Loki's scepter had gone the last time a wormhole had been opened. No, this time they'd be prepared. So he turned, gazing back to his computer to continue his work.

* * *

Natasha walked along the sidewalk slowly, gazing in store windows and wondering vaguely what exactly she was suppose to buy. She realized she didn't really know Steve that well, so it made shopping for his gift a whole lot harder. Tony was correct when he said Steve was hard to shop for. He wasn't really from this..what...time period? So buying him an electronic was probably pointless. She wondered about clothes. But then again she hadn't seen him wearing much of anything but that suit. She sighed again, continuing to walk along.

"Natasha?"

She turned at the voice. Banner stood behind her, jogging to catch up. She was surprised, but quite touched that he had followed her out of the tower. "What's up, Bruce?" She watched as he blushed a bit, walking beside her now and trying to catch his breath.

"I...heard...that you were going out shopping...for Steve's birthday gift." She nodded in agreement with him. "Tony told me too. I figured it's better than doing nothing, anyway."

"I see..." Bruce stated, walking normally now beside her, "I figured that I'd...I dunno, tag along." He said this with a nervous smile, struggling to keep up with Natasha's quick pace. Natasha rolled her eyes in good humor, and slowed her pace a bit, Bruce giving an exhausted sigh.

After a few moments of walking in silence, Bruce spoke, "So, do you have any idea what you want to get him? I mean, it's gotta be from all of us, sooo..." There was a long pause as Natasha half considered, half wished to rip his throat out. She made sure to soften her voice before she spoke, the irritation not hidden as well as she had originally hoped, "I have no idea. Tony sent me out here with no warning, no ideas, no nothing. Lazy slob just didn't want to do it himself."

"So how are you going to pay for it?"

"He gave me his debit card."

There was another perpetual silence, as the two looked at each other, smiles slowly creeping across their face. "You are so totally thinking what I'm thinking, aren't you?" Natasha asked, voice raising in excitement. Bruce nodded happily, "I think I am."

"Let's get him back for sending us out here on a fool's errand." Natasha's eyes were alight with excitement, and Bruce smiled back at her, reluctant but agreeing only because he enjoyed seeing the excitement and joy in her eyes.

"Let's go then!" She wrapped her hand around his, much to his surprise, and off they went, heading in the direction of the...better stores.

* * *

Thor stood dumbly in the large kitchen, gazing at the ingredients Tony had set out on the counter. He blinked a few times, before sighing and pulling on his beard, trying to figure out just what it was he was to do with these things. Thor had never been one for cooking, or even one for being in the kitchen; in fact, his mother had frequently shooed him out of the kitchen as a child, telling him he got in the way too often.

His brother however, was a different story entirely. Loki from a young age had taken interest in cooking, fascinated by what Thor did not know. But his mother had frequently enjoyed Loki's company in the kitchen, and Thor had seen on multiple occasions Loki helping her with many things. Thor sighed. If only he had paid more attention...technically if only he had been _interested._ But no, Thor had taken more interest in the more physical aspects of his childhood; sparring, fighting, swordplay and the lot.

Now he almost regretted not being like Loki.

He continued to stare at the ingredients before him, hoping that if maybe he stared long enough they would come together and make sense. But he had no such luck. He wondered why Tony would put him in charge of the cake anyway. Surely there was someone better suited for such a task...

Thor gazed around the kitchen, but found no one nearby. He sighed again, setting Mjolnir down on the counter beside him and preparing himself for his task.

He reached down, and lifting an egg of the table. He wondered what it was he was to do with it. He turned it around and around in his hand, gazing at it incredulously, before it cracked in his hand, spilling all over the counter and his hand.

He blinked as it oozed, frowned, then threw the remainder of it at the wall across from him.

"The prince of Asgard was not meant for such tasks!" He shouted angrily, crossing his arms and glaring at the rest of the ingredients. He was defeated...

He turned, whisking his way out of the kitchen, feet landing heavily and creating echoes throughout the hallway as he headed for the secondary lab. He was very frustrated when he entered, the door swinging open and slamming into the wall hard.

"Oh!" Loki let out a startled squeak, and flinched at the noise his brother had created. He frowned heavily, turning to gaze at his older brother, who stood in the doorway, hands on his hips and a very frustrated look on his face. Loki knew immediately what this meant.

Thor had come to an impasse at some task or another, became frustrated, and now was standing here about to ask Loki for assistance. And as Loki had predicted, Thor puffed out his chest, his voice irate and loud, grating in Loki's ears, "Brother! I require your assistance!"

Loki deadpanned, sighing and setting his scepter down on the lab table in front of him delicately, the tool in his right hand he placed beside it. He was careful not to drop the swirling blue orb that he had been attempting to insert into the hole in the scepters tip. He was immediately irritated by his brother, but he pushed it aside for the sake of keeping face. He turned back to Thor, rolling his eyes and asking with heavy sarcasm, "Oh, my dear brother, what could you possibly require my assistance for?" He stood from his chair, straightening and smoothing out his robes, "Surely there is nothing the Mighty Thor cannot do," He mocked, coming to stand face to face with his brother. Thor's face became more twisted in anger and frustration as he said, "Do not jest now, brother, like I said I require assistance." Thor turned to the door, motioning with his hand for Loki to follow, "Come with me, Loki."

Loki simply rolled his eyes once more, following behind Thor reluctantly. Loki was taken by surprise however, when they entered the kitchen. On one of the many counters lay a handful of ingredients, already measured and ready to be used, and next to them the necessary utensils needed for the act of baking a cake. He turned to look at Thor once more, now noticing what looked like raw egg coating his brother's left hand, and suddenly, he could hold it no more.

Thor watched in horror as Loki burst out laughing, doubling over, and occasionally taking a glance at his brother, who stood in absolute confusion at Loki's sudden outburst. Loki began stifling his laughter, wiping the imaginary tears from his eyes as he righted himself, attempting to catch his breath, the occasional burst of laughter still escaping him.

He knew what was happening here.

"Wishing you had taken lessons from Mother, eh?"

"Do not jest with me, Loki," Thor demanded, "Just help me."

Loki gazed at Thor with a ridiculous smile on his face; Thor however failed to see the humor in the situation, so stood there angrily, brows furrowed. "Are you quite finished, Loki? Will you help me, or not?!" Thor asked, crossing his arms. Loki took a few more laughs, before nodding, and saying in a shaky voice, "Yes, yes, I shall assist you."

"Thank you."

Loki smiled at Thor once more, suppressing the many giggles that still threatened to escape him as he crossed the space to the counter. He grabbed the bowl, making a large show of it to his brother, before setting it back down and getting to work.

Thor simply watched Loki, unable to understand how Loki was making the connection between the ingredients and the overall solution to this problem. He watched Loki's hands as they switched from thing to thing, and he watched as Loki stirred the mixture in the bowl with a quick hand. After a few moments Thor asked, "How do you know what goes where and how and..." He trailed off, having confused himself even.

Loki laughed, "Mother taught me."

"I miss her." Thor stated, casting his gaze to the ground.

"Me too..." Loki winced as he let it slip, and cringed at the uncomfortable silence that followed. Loki continued stirring the mixture in the bowl, watching as it became more of a liquid than a solid; it's golden mixture finally beginning to look appetizing.

Thor stood, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably, for a few moments reluctant to even look at his younger brother. He wished that he could hold his brother...comfort him...tell him that everything would end up okay. But Thor knew that ship had sailed long ago.

And he regretted it.

He was brought back to his senses by Loki's voice calling his name. He turned to look at Thor, irritation evident on his face. "Did you not hear me, you oaf? Where is your head?"

Thor shook his head to clear it, grinning back at Loki, "Ah, it was off somewhere in the clouds dear brother, but it has returned."

"It can't return if there was nothing there to begin with."

"What was that, Loki?"

"Nothing." Loki said pleasantly, gazing from the mixture in the bowl, then back to Thor, then back to the bowl, and back again. A large mischievous smile crossed his face...A few moments later, Clint walked into the kitchen to find quite the bizarre sight. Thor sat by the stove in the kitchen, watching the cake in the oven rise, covered from head to toe in something golden. The mixture was also in footprints on the floor where ever the large man had walked, and multiple hand prints littered the room. Clint opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it, walking back out of the room the way he had came.

* * *

Loki sat back in the secondary lab, scepter resting on the table in front of him, as he attempted for the billionth time that day to insert the new gem he had created into the empty space in the scepters tip. He used the tool he was holding to try and ease the insertion, and he hoped that this time luck would be on his side and it was click into it's rightful place. He could not apply to much pressure for fear his precious gem would break.

Just as it began to click, it moved, falling out of place and almost onto the table. "Ymir's blood!" Loki cursed, frustrated, throwing the tool down onto the table and cradling the newly created power gem in his hand gently. He sighed, gazing at it. Inside the blue gem a lighter blue swirled, almost like clouds in the sky. But he knew what it really was. It had taken him days to find a way to replicate the power of the casket into his gem. But alas, he had succeeded. The only thing keeping him from his success was that the damn thing would not click into the proper place in the scepter. This endless endeavor, in which Loki had been at for hours, was making him rather irate. He sighed once more, holding down the urge to throw everything in his hands and scream in rage, and picked up the tool once more.

He would give it one more shot.

He took the gem gently, balancing it near it's proper place, and once more attempting to push it into it's proper place. He cursed as he felt it slip once more, and he knew the inevitable was about to happen. It would fall and he would have to start over once more.

A large crash resounded throughout the tower, and everything inside shook heavily, sending Loki crashing out of his chair scepter in hand. He landed heavily on the ground with an 'oof', trying his best to cradle the scepter. "What the hell was that?" He said aloud, gazing around the room as everything shook a little bit more. His eyes went wide and immediately he went searching for his orb, expecting to find his hard work laying shattered on the floor beside him.

He was surprised at what he saw.

There sat the orb, perfectly balanced and in it's rightful place, the scepter newly reactivated by it's power and fully operational.

"Huh, what do you know?"

It was then that Loki heard the screaming. It came radiating down the hallway, and Loki got to his knees, then to a crouching position, scepter at the ready, as he gazed down the hallway. Multiple various employees of the tower when screaming and screeching by, and Loki could not for the life of him figure out what was causing such a panic.

He headed out into the hallway, pushing past the panicked employees. He heard some crashes coming from down the hallway, so he headed in that direction. It was then that a man with a large gun crashed out of a doorway in front of him, and immediately Loki cast a magical barrier around himself, awaiting the inevitable.

The bullets went flying toward him, and Loki laughed as they bounced off of his magical shield. These mortals were so clueless. He walked toward the man as he continued shooting at Loki in vain, screaming something ineligible as Loki stabbed him threw with the scepter. So it was an invasion, was it? Loki assumed that it would only be a matter of time before Doom made his move...Loki had just hoped that it would have been a little longer...given him more time to prepare. But it doesn't matter. Loki had prepared for this.

He continued his way down the hall, mowing down to more of the small men on his way, the bullets bouncing off him easily, leaving him completely unharmed. He pushed the door open to the main room, manifesting his helmet and armor, and there was Wanda, attempting to fight off multiple goons with guns. Loki counted at least five of them, and they were closing in on her fast. When she caught sight of him she faltered, a bullet grazing her shoulder. Loki winced, but motioned for her to cover herself with a magical barrier. She did so quickly, and as soon as Loki was sure she would be protected, and pointed the scepter, and released the power from the orb.

The sound of the impact was almost deafening, and the knock back nearly sent Loki off balance, as he shielded his face from the after affects. Once the room had settled down, he unshielded his eyes, and gazed around the room. The men that had been there were on the ground, either dead or unconscious Loki could not tell, and a thick layer of ice covered the site of impact. Loki smiled, his success finally completed. It worked.

He headed over to Wanda who was crouched on the ground, eyes wide. She lowered her barrier as he approached, throwing herself into his arms as tears sprang from her eyes. She began muttering a string of things Loki could not understand into his chest, clutching his armor in her hands. Loki looked down at her surprised, and faltered for words as he tapped her back gently with his free hand.

He sighed, attempting to offer her comforting words.

After a few moments, she seemed to calm herself, and she pushed him away roughly by the chest, yelling something at him that was jumbled because of her tears. He rolled his eyes, "Just stay here. I"m going to look for my brother."

And with that he was headed off to the balcony, where the obvious sounds of fighting could be heard from where he stood.

"Come on guys, beat em' back!" Tony's voice echoed as he shot another blast from his suit, sending another poor soul flying off the balcony. Clint pulled back another arrow, aiming his shot, and hitting a man in the forehead, sending him backward into a statue. Tony winced as the statue broke, "Oh come on Clint! I paid for that statue!" Clint simply rolled his eyes, but was taken by surprise when a Chitauri came from behind him. He closed his eyes and prepared for the blow; there was no way he'd dodge it in time...

Thor's hammer struck another Chitauri. He was surprised to find them mixed in with Doctor Doom's goons. He yelled in anger as he struck yet another, sending that one flying in Iron Man's direction. The sounds of their battling could no doubt be heard from around the tower, and Thor worried for his brother's safety. The last time he had seen Loki had been in Tony's secondary lab. The explosion had come not far from that location.

Thor ducked as a Chitauri attempted a strike at him, and he wheezed at how close it had come, his mind was not where it should be. He hoped Loki would arrive soon...His name being shouted was enough to rouse him from his stupor, the familiar tone causing him to turn to it's owner. As he did so, a tremendous pain erupted in his back, Mjolnir falling from his hand as he fell to knees, the pain radiating, his eyes wide in surprise. He had been hit...

Loki stood before the scene in horror, as he watched his older brother fall to his knees, the bayonet of a Chitauri's weapon embedded deep within his back. He gaped as he locked eyes with Thor, who honestly looked thoroughly confused, as he fell to the ground with a thud.

Rage bubbled within Loki, and he could quiet it no longer. This was not part of the plan! Thor was never meant to get hurt!

His voice felt stuck in his throat, as he was unable to get the sounds he needed to pass. Instead he erupted in a furious, feral scream of a mixture between fury and absolute agony. The rest of the Avengers looked on in horror, attempting to finish off whatever stragglers had been left. Loki could feel the pressure within his body rising, and try as he might it was a force he could not stop.

In a quick movement Wanda was there behind him, she could sense the incredible force of magic, and was not oblivious to what was about to occur. She brought her own magic to her hands, sending it's tendrils out to the other Avengers in a last second attempt to protect as many as she could.

In a second, the barrier holding his magic released, his fingers unfolding as the sheer force flew from him, creating a deafening sound, the force knocking everything in it's path away. Loki kept his eyes screwed shut as he tried to calm himself, terror rising up in his being as it had before. He had not had something like this happen to him since the time he had spent in his prison cell; when he had learned of his dear mother's demise.

Despite the terror that gripped his throat, the anger and fury and power within him won over, and he opened his eyes. The one who had stabbed his brother had been thrown backwards, into the railing of the balcony. Loki paid no mind to Wanda's barriers as they protected her companions. Loki was vaguely aware of the sounds of ice crunching beneath his feet as he walked forward, eyes ablaze with a fury unmatched.

The Red Skull attempted to scamper up to his feet, shaking as he did so, and he made a wild attempt to wriggle over the balcony, but was foiled as Loki's hand wrapped around his throat, cutting off his air supply and lifting him from the ground with ease. Loki watched the man struggle and hack, and he stared into two terrified eyes. The hand around Red Skull's throat tightened just a bit more, a choked, rasping sound escaping his shaking form, as he stared at Loki, terrified.

"We had a deal...a plan, wouldn't you say?" Loki's voice sound rough and edgy even to himself, but he paid it no mind as he continued, "Do you remember what it was?" Red Skull did his best too nod in understanding, no doubt the pressure in his head building with every second Loki's hand stayed clamped to his slender throat.

"It was that you would invade the tower at a _later_ date, was it not?" Loki waited for Red Skull to nod his head, before he continued, "And my brother was _not_ to be hurt. You remember that too?" Red Skull nodded again, clutching at Loki's hands, which simply fueled Loki's rage. "I don't LIKE being CHEATED!" Loki's voice was a roar in his ears, and suddenly Red Skull was screaming and writhing once more, and Loki watched as the skin Loki's hand came into contact with began turning black with frostbite. Loki smiled and scoffed, enjoying the writhing and screaming he was eliciting, "And that is exactly what you did to me..." Loki's voice dropped to a dangerously low tone as he dropped a manic smile crossed his face, "And do you know what use I have for cheaters?"

Red Skull shook his head no, eyes wide and pleading. Loki simply smiled his charming smile, with a manic edge, pausing in silence for a few moments for effect. He could vaguely hear Thor's voice in the background screaming his name and telling him no, but it sounded as if he were under water, and he ignored it, continuing.

"None."

In a fluid motion he raised the scepter, swiping it in front of himself. A warm wetness splattered his face and helmet, as the heaviness on his arm disappeared. It was then that the rage and such dissipated from him, and he could once again hear and think clearly. He lowered the scepter in his hand, smiling all the while, satisfied. He then turned, prize and scepter in hand, and walked back in from the balcony. Thor knelt on the ground, hand to his stomach to help stem some of the bleeding, looking up at Loki horrified.  
Loki simply smiled back at him, and turned to gaze at Steve, who stood in the center of the room, gazing around in confusion. He continued toward him, smiling all the while before walking past Steve cheerily and tossing his prize into Steve's awaiting hands.

"Happy Birthday, Captain."And with that Loki exited the hallway, leaving the carnage and shock behind him.

"Oh, fuck!" Steve yelped, dropping Red Skull's head from his hands in absolute horror, watching in disgust as it rolled over it self multiple times before stopping eyes up. "Steve!" Tony's voice called as he landed on the ground, "Watch your language!"

Steve turned and shot Tony a nasty look, as the rest of the Avengers simply stood in the carnage. "That scepter Loki was holding reminds me of the one I'm looking for." Tony wondered as he walked past Steve to the bar, pouring himself a drink. "How can you drink at a time like this?!" Steve asked, disgusted. Tony simply shrugged, continuing to drink.

"What the hell happened here?" Natasha's voice rang at as she and Banner walked into the room, hands full of shopping bags. "The whole towers destroyed." Banner simply looked around, before backing away slowly, saying, "Yeah...I think I'll just go...wait...outside." And with that he disappeared back out the door. Natasha gaze around, before sighing, and asking,

"And where the hell is Clint?"


	8. What Have You Done?

"I'm over here..."

Everyone turned in the direction of the voice, which radiated from the living room. What everyone saw stunned the room into silence. There Clint sat, on the couch unharmed; and next to him...Quicksilver.

Wanda's eyes widened to an impossible size, tears filling them at the sight of her late brother. He simply smiled widely back at her, and in a second he was in front of her, embracing her and whispering endearments to his dear sister. The rest of the Avengers watched on in awe at the reunion of the two. Clint simply shrugged, "I can't figure it out either."

Wanda pulled away suddenly, gripping her brother by the shoulders, "How has this happened? We saw you die! I felt it!"

Quicksilver simply continued smiling widely, chuckling in joy, "I don't really know _how_ myself! But here I am, back with you, and our friends! I'm back!" He pulled her into another hug, swaying her back and forth in his elation. Clint smiled at the sight, as the rest of the Avengers relaxed, but continued to stare on in confusion. How was it possible? Finally, Steve could ponder it no more. "How are you here, Quicksilver?" He demanded, not unkindly but authoritatively. Quicksilver's smile vanished for a moment as he faltered, frowning in thought for a moment, before his smile returned.

"Okay, Okay...I don't know exactly how he did it but..."

"Who?" Steve asked, as the rest of them listened intently for Quicksilver's answer.

"Loki."

It was then that the God of Mischief himself entered the room was more, the blood wiped from his skin, but still caking the gold of his armor. He gazed up from the ground at the sound of his name, gazing around the room, before his eyes widened nervously, as he gulped, eyes darting from one Avenger to another nervously. "What about Loki?" He asked, the smile vanishing from his face as he hunched slightly, taking a few steps backward toward the door he had entered from.

"Don't you move, brother!" Thor's loud voice startled Loki, as he looked toward his older brother, who was now standing, albeit with some obvious difficulty. "You must answer for this!" Thor pointed at Quicksilver, who looked like he was caught in the middle of something he really didn't want any part of. Loki smiled nervously again, glancing around and behind himself; and when he realized that he had no other means of escape, he laughed nervously, defeated.

He cleared his throat, straightening to his full height, a few nervous giggles escaping he throat as fought the urge to take another step backward.

"Ah...I see." Loki said, voice laced with nervousness and an edge of fear.

"What have you done, Loki?" Thor asked. He did not like this. He should never have trusted his brother. The question he asked held two meanings. It was then that Loki realized the blunder he had made. Thor had overheard him with Red Skull...Fear crossed his face unbidden, and he attempted to hide it as fast as it had come, but he was unsuccessful. He swallowed hard again, silver tongue faltering as he struggled for words. "I...I know not what you mean..." Loki's voice was soft now, the prideful air it once held now diminished. "I simply...did a favor for a friend." He tilted his head in Wanda's direction, and she smiled back at him with a gratitude that surprised him.

Quicksilver finally spoke up, "He's right. He brought me here for Wanda. He's telling you the truth. I owe him a debt."

Loki nodded, nervous smile returned, "Precisely." He motioned to Quicksilver, "He works for me now." Thor's brows knitted together, and for a moment Loki thought he would tell the rest of the Avengers what he had heard, but instead Thor simply thought against it, closing his mouth and glaring at his younger brother with a fury that terrified Loki.

Loki had not been as careful as he should have; he worried now how this would affect the rest of his plans. Something had to be done, but not now. He went to speak, but was cut off by Clint, who had finally rejoined the rest of the group, rolling his eyes, "Well what, are we gonna kill him again?"

Heads shook no immediately, and Steve said, "Of course not!"

"Then let's stop being upset about it. Our buddy's back, we're all alive, so let's just let it go."

A long silence followed, before Steve nodded, and the rest simply stayed quiet in silent agreement. It was then that Loki spoke, "Our tower is no longer safe." An enigmatic silence followed, before Tony broke the air with, "No kidding. Figure that one out all by yourself?"

Loki shot him a glare, before continuing, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice, "I...have a place for us to go...if you all so wish. I assure you it's safe. Unless you'd rather," He motioned around himself, "Stay in all this mess."

Yet another silence followed, before Steve sighed loudly, rubbing his face tiredly, "I don't really see us as having a choice."

"But all my stuff is here!" Tony whined, desperately clinging to the drink in his hands, trying to down it as fast as possible. Steve simply rolled his eyes, replying, "Oh, just give it up Tony. Everything's a mess now anyway."

Tony gazed around at this, before nodding and shrugging, "Yeah, I kinda see it now."

Steve simply sighed, deadpanning, before turning to Thor. "Can we trust your brother with this or not?" Thor immediately, went to respond, but gazed at Loki for just a moment. And Loki took that moment to give his older brother his best pleading look. Thor sighed, "I would assume so. We really don't have another choice at this point."

"There's no doubt there sending reinforcements. Probably as we speak." Natasha stated, gazing at the rest of them. Everyone nodded in agreement, and Loki spoke once more, "Then if you'd all simply follow my instructions, I will get us there momentarily. But we will require," He motioned to the jet that lay on the bay, "your flying device."

* * *

The cold that embraced them as they exited the jet was tremendous, chilling them immediately. The only one who seemed to be having no problem was Loki, who stood impatiently, waiting for them all to exit the aircraft. "Come on, one would think you are all dear old maidens." He taunted, chuckling at his jest. The others however did not find it funny in the least, and grumbled and whined as they finished exited the jet. It was then that Thor finally realized exactly where they were. Instantly, he turned to Loki in fury, grabbing his surprised younger brother by his breastplate, "How!? How could you bring us here! Here, of all place, Loki!" Thor shook him violently, and Loki faltered for a moment, trying to sift through his alarmed mind for the words he wished to say.

"Please, brother, calm yourself! It is not as you think!" Loki's voice was desperate as he struggled slightly, trying to claw his brother's hand from his breastplate unsuccessfully. "There is no danger here!" He paused as he calmed his breathing, "Not anymore. Do you really think I'd walk us all into a deathtrap?"

Thor was silent as he blinked at his younger brother. Loki frowned, "Don't answer that. Now put me DOWN you buffoon!" Thor simply dropped Loki to the ground, who landed none to gracefully, trying to right himself and his cape as quickly as possible, his face a shade of red and fury. He inhaled deeply, glaring death at everything as he spoke almost demanding like, "Now if everyone would _please_ silence yourselves and follow me, I shall lead us to a space more comfortable than the _outside."_

Thor and the other followed. Thor could not believe his brother had taken them to Jotunheim, of all the places in the nine realms, Jotunheim. He shook his head. They were all foolish for trusting the trickster. Thor's mistrust of Loki grew by the minute, and any trust he had held for his brother vanished when he heard what Loki had said to Red Skull.

Loki had planned the attack on the tower.

Thor could not believe it. It was then that Thor realized exactly where they were headed. The Citadel stood before them, looking a lot better than Thor had last remembered it. He had no doubt in his mind that it had been rebuilt. But he wondered how and why there were here. And he wondered where the Jotunns resided. Wanda gazed around as they entered onto a bridge that led to what reminded her of a large castle like tower. The cold was bitter, and it bit at her skin; but her home had been cold, she remembered. It was then that a voice startled her into looking up from her feet as she stopped walking. In front of them stood an odd looking man, with long braided white hair, pointed ears, and dark colored skin. He stood in front of Loki, speaking to him in words that were to fast and quiet for her to understand from her position in the back of the group. And then she heard yelling. The voice was loud and deep, and she could only recognize it as Thor's.

"NO! LOKI NO! This is insane!" Thor bellowed, "I killed him! They attacked ASGARD! Killed our MOTHER! How could you?!"

"Thor please! Calm yourself! This is not the only ally I have acquire, and shall you act like this _every_ time?!" Loki bellowed right back, and suddenly there was a shouting match that reminded Wanda of two young children. The Avengers stood there rather awkwardly as the brother's continued shouting at one another, until finally the shouting stopped and Thor simply shook his head and crossed his arms, looking away from Loki with fury and hurt evident in his blue eyes, and Wanda wondered what exactly the strange looking man had done to cause Thor to hate him so much. This one was not the only strange looking one. Many more lined the bridge like sentry's, and strange looking air crafts lined the space around them.

Loki turned to the group with the strange looking man, motioning from him to the Avengers and back again, stating, "This, is Malekith. I'm sure you were informed of his involvement in an incident in New York. He is the general commander here at the moment."

Thor scoffed loudly, "Let's just get on with this." Loki rolled his eyes at his brother, as they continued down the bridge. Everything here was such a large size Wanda could not fathom why they would need door's and chairs and pathway that were so large. She gazed in awe as they entered the Citadel, with Loki in the lead. In front of them was a throne made of ice, which sat empty. Beside it stood two of the tallest and strangest looking people Wanda had ever seen.

They were blue and covered in markings that looked almost tribal. The only garb they wore was jade armor, and Wanda was almost afraid of them. Thor stated quietly, "These are Frost Giants. Like my brother."

it was then that something strange occurred. Loki ascended the steps in front of them, crossing the paths of the Frost Giants...and taking a seat in the empty throne.

Thor's eyes widened considerably at this, "Loki! What is the meaning of this? Where is Laufey?" Thor received a sly smile in response, as the authoritative quality in Loki's voice returned for the first time since they left the tower, his air of confidence once again restored.

"The meaning of this? Oh...I think I've earned it." Loki shifted, sitting in his signature position on the throne, "And as for Laufey? He is around, but he...is no longer fit for his job as king."

"Then what do you do upon that throne Loki?!" Thor asked, confusion spreading over him as he gazed at his brother, and wondered why the Frost Giants did nothing to remove his brother from the throne. Loki was quick to answer Thor, sarcasm laced through his tone, "I do believe it is my right to sit here...I _am_ firstborn of Laufey, after all..."

It was then that Thor realized what Loki had done. Odin had warned Thor of this in private, before he had discovered that his brother had yet lived from his fall from the Bifrost. He should have known his brother's lust for power would eventually lead him back to his home. "And Laufey simply allowed you to take his throne?" Thor questioned, gazing at the rest of the Avengers, who looked terribly confused and displaced in this strange realm. Loki laughed.

"I would suppose not. But it all worked out in the end." Thor went to speak again but was silenced by a wave of Loki's hands as he yawned obnoxiously, "Now I grow bored of all this questioning. I have brought you to a safe place, as agreed. Now, I have prepared for you. Tony, a suitable lab resides in the western side of the Citadel. I hope you shall find it suitable, it was created by the Dark Elves themselves, masters in technology I hear. As for the rest of you, quarters are upstairs, we have training facilities and...well pretty much everything you would wish to have...except for heat I'm afraid. You see, we have to keep it quite cold here for...obvious reasons. You have a question bother one of the many useless being standing around. Now leave me be for awhile." Loki shooed them off with a wave of his hand, and Thor watched as they all disbanded, confused and tired in different directions.

He gazed once more at Loki who sat on his throne of ice, before he shook his head and left as well, leaving Loki alone with the two frost giants beneath him.

Once they were gone the smile on Loki's face faded, as he gazed with a look of hurt upon the floor. Loki wondered vaguely if Frigga would be proud of his seat on Jotunheim's throne. But he doubted it. He could still hear his mother's voice echoing in his head, bouncing around over and over and driving him insane.

 _You're not the bad guy, Loki. You are no monster._

Tears sprung to his eyes immediately, and he suddenly felt ashamed. He wished he could believe her; but how could he when the proof was embedded into his very skin? A stray tear slid down his cheek, and he watched it fall onto his breastplate, freezing as it connected to the golden metal.

He missed her.

He blamed himself.

He had thrown the idea around in his head numerous times. He could accomplish the same thing with his mother that he had down with Quicksilver. But it was not that that prevented him from doing so. It was what she might think of him were she to return. Disappointing his mother was the one thing that stung Loki so deeply he thought he might die. She had been the only one in his homeland to accept him for who he was. She had never tried to change him, she had never scoffed or laughed.

And no matter what tricks he played...she had always loved him.

He feared what she might think of him now. Had he gone against what she wished for him? He gazed down at himself...he must look evil and foreboding upon his throne of ice. He didn't wish to be the bad guy...

It was then that he closed his eyes, muttering the words from the book that he had taken from Hela. And in moments he was somewhere else entirely. Valhalla. The place was a paradise as many had predicted, but where he was was different.

" _Loki."  
_

The tears welled up in his eyes as he laid eyes upon her. She looked as beautiful as she had the day she had departed, her jeweled dress and headpiece adorning her as they always had; not a blemish marred her perfect skin. For a moment she looked sad, as she asked him, voice filled with dread, _"You do not walk these halls yourself now, do you?"_

Loki shook his head, "No Mother, I am not dead."

" _Then why, my beautiful son do you stand before me?"_ Her voice held the tone that he missed the most, the loving quality that had comforted him and had given him a reason to continue all those centuries. _"You belong in the land of the living, Loki. You should not stand before me now, though it warms me that you do."_

Loki swallowed the lump in his throat, the tears threatening to spill over as he said, "I wanted to see you, Mother. I needed too."

Her face looked as if she were in pain as she said, _"Why do you hurt, my son? Do not fret over it, I know why you're here..."_

Loki had to hold back the flood of words that came to his throat, but he swallowed them back down, choking on them, his voice cracking as he struggled to get the words to come out of his throat. He did not have long here, for this place sapped his very life force from him. "Mother, I...I do not know what to do. I have...I have done terrible things."

" _Yes, Loki. You have. But we have forgiven you. I have, your father has, your brother has. We all still love you."_

"But why?!" His voice rose steadily until he was yelling, "I am nothing but a MONSTER! And I have done nothing but fail you all..." The tears flowed from his eyes unchecked as years of held emotions burst from him in sob after sob. He felt his mother's hand on his shoulder, and the grief and loneliness he felt without her overtook him as he wailed into her shoulder as she held him silently. When he had quieted himself down, she said gently, _"You are no monster, Loki. You are our son, and you are Thor's brother."_

Loki looked at her, and, unable to stop himself, "I am so sorry, Mother. What I said to you in the prison...You ARE my mother, no matter what I said. The...the mind stone...it...my mind..."

" _Hush now, Loki. It has already been forgotten. I forgave you the moment the words crossed your lips. I could sense the fog in your mind."_

It was then that Loki felt as if a thousand pounds were lifted from him, and he embraced his mother tightly, "I have to go."

" _I know, Loki."_

"I love you, Mother."

" _I love you too, Loki."_

Loki released her, making the necessary words and hand motions to bring himself back to the world of the living before he was trapped here as well. As he began to fade, he heard her comforting voice call to him, _"And Loki...no matter your race, you are no monster...and you are no evil. And the path you have chosen...is NEVER set in stone."_

Loki opened his eyes as he came back to himself, still sitting on his throne of ice. The tears that had escaped his eyes as he was away had frozen on his face and armor. He ignored the ice that caked his face as he pondered what had been said. And for the first time since he had set his plan into motion, he felt a pang of regret.

He wondered if it was too late to change his mind about it all. But the anger and bitterness inside himself refused to allow him to think to much into it as it returned. He deserved what he was about to get. He would not give it up easily, and definitely not because he had suffered...what were they called? Emotional meltdowns?

But the feeling of regret continued to nag at him as he gazed out over the hall. He had fought hard to gain this throne alone; he would not give up the throne that he was truly after...He laughed as he remembered his true father's fall in this very hall...

* * *

 _Loki approached the throne slowly, nervousness bubbling within, but an air of confidence keeping him going. He needed to do this. Laufey sat on his throne, and as Loki approached he gazed at him in humor, asking in a voice none to kind, "What do you do here, Asgardian traitor?"_

 _Loki simply smiled and chuckled, "I have something to show you."  
Laufey was silent for several seconds before he motioned for Loki to continue. With a smile in that instant Loki summoned the casket from it's resting place, and watching as Laufey almost jumped out of his chair at it's appearance. But what stunned Laufey the most was the transformation of the Asgardian in front of him. Loki's skin had changed color's quickly as he held the casket._

 _And e stood there before Laufey, smiling from ear to ear in sick delight as he said, "Father."_

 _He watched in humor as Laufey's eyes widened considerably, jaw clenching in what Loki presumed to be anger, as he said, "So that is what happened to you...Odin has had you for all these years..." Loki simply nodded in agreement, before, in a fluid motion the casket disappeared from his hands, as he smiled widely at his father, "I assume you understand why I am here then?"_

 _He was answered with a bellow of loud laughter from Laufey, as he mocked, "You? The pathetic excuse for a Frost Giant? You cannot claim my throne from me, boy. Why do you think I left you on a rock in the first place?"_

 _Loki simply continued to look up at Laufey from he position on the floor, the smile being replaced by a mischievous smirk. "That was YOUR mistake, father."_

 _Laufey scoffed, "Then you better kill me, boy, because I'll never let you sit on my throne, you pathetic traitorous worm."_

" _No..."I"m not you._

* * *

Loki was jolted from his memories by his brother's voice. Thor stood before the throne, gazing up at Loki incredulously, saying, "We need to talk, brother."

Loki had been expecting this. With a sigh he stood from his throne, scepter in hand as he descended the steps to face his brother. "What do you want, Thor?"

"Exactly what I said, trickster. We need to talk." Thor's voice was none to loving, and Loki felt a pang of hurt for a moment, but he ignored it instead, nodding in agreement with Thor. "Fine, as you wish." So they walked down the hall and toward the empty training room, where Loki hoped they would not be overheard.

* * *

Tony sat in the lab surrounded by the other Avengers, analyzing a model of Loki's new scepter. "You know guys, this scepter is exactly like the only one I'm looking for. I can't figure this out..."

Steve simply rolled his eyes in annoyance, as they sat around. "We have to figure something out. We just went from the frying pan, into the fire." Steve's voice was laced with exhaustion, as Banner asked, "How do you figure?"

"Well," Steve began , counting the incidents off on his fingers, "First, our tower's destroyed, second, Red Skull and a bunch of others are dead, third, we are in a realm we've never even been to before in a castle that's owned by Loki who appears to be a king now, which is a nightmare unto itself...I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this."

Banner nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess I can see it."

"Plus," Steve added, "This was like the shittiest birthday ever."

"Sorry, Cap! We tried..." Tony called from his shoulder as he closely inspected a picture of Loki and the scepter that had been taken in the training room, "There has got to be something in this photo I'm missing..."

It was then that Jane spoke up as she sat beside Darcy and Selvig, "Where's Thor? I don't see him anywhere."

She received a bunch of shrugs from the rest of the team, which made her sigh and roll her eyes in irritation. "I'm going to go look for him."

Erik attempted to stop her, but she ignored him as she exited the lab, the large door closing heavily behind her.

* * *

" _Loki,"_ Thor's voice was laced with venom as he spoke, anger flaring within him, "What have you done." His voice was the epitome of accusation and doom; and Loki winced at the sound of it, glad that they were alone. Thor continued, "We trusted you...and you planned that attack on us. Why, Loki? Why must you destroy any trust that I ever build for you!" Thor yelled angrily, punching a column next to him and cracking the stone with his fist.

Loki growled angrily, the regret and anger and hurt rising within him, mixing to create quite the venomous mix, "YOU NEVER TRUSTED ME!" Thor was surprised at his brother's angry bellow, for Loki was almost always quiet, and never had Thor seen save a few rare times, where Loki had allowed his emotions to get the better of him. "Admit it, _brother._ You NEVER trusted me! Even when we were children I was always wrong."

"Loki enough of this mad rambling, you know that isn't true." Thor said quietly, trying to calm his younger brother. "I just wish to know why you would mess with us like this! We harbored you, and you've betrayed us as I imagined you would."

"You IMAGINED!" Loki laughed loudly, "You mean you assumed from the start! You wanna know why, brother?" Loki growled, fury evident in his blazing green eyes, "Because I _hate_ you. I hat you, and Father, and every one of those useless excuses for beings in Asgard. I hate them just as much as they've all hated me! And I had done _nothing._ I was always beneath you. So THAT'S why, brother. That's why. Because I dislike ALL of you. You've all BETRAYED me!"

"You are wrong brother!" Thor exclaimed, hurt beyond belief by Loki's accusation, "We have _never_ hated you! Why must you act this way Loki?"

The rage and fury and hurt and jealousy that had been building in Loki finally released. It was released in a shock wave of magical energy that sent even Thor flying backward onto his back, Mjolnir dropping from his hands as he hit the stone floor.

"Ah!"

Loki immediately was snapped from his rage, as he turned to face in the direction of the squeal. He looked on in horror as he saw Jane, back against a column on the floor, rubbing her head and wincing in pain. "I...what have I done..." Loki muttered as he turned toward her, in shock. "I'm so...I'm sorry, I-" He was cut off my an infuriated howl from Thor, and what happened in the next for seconds was lost too Loki.

Thor in a fluid motion made a hand movement, uttering a few words that sounded like Asgardian magic, before Loki was struck hard in the stomach with something that escaped his vision. But all he could remember when he thought back on it was the unimaginable feelings that came after.

It felt as though someone was sucking out his very _soul._ The pain was enough to cut off his breathing, sending him falling to his knees. It felt as if fire was traveling through his very veins, and he could not get any words to escape his throat, which remained closed, and breathing impossible.

A tingling sensation crowded the rest of his skin, and Loki looked down in horror as the blue began spreading from his fingertips, overtaken any normal looking skin left on him, the darker blue markings sprouting up in it's wake.

With horror and hurt in his eyes, he looked up at Thor. "What have you done?"


	9. What Does It Feel Like, To Die?

"What have you done?"

Thor gaped at his brother's transformation, the look of absolute betrayal in his younger brother's eyes enough to clear the red in his vision. They stayed, eyes locked for a moment, before Thor watched with horror as Loki collapsed heavily on the stone floor, landing with a thud.

"Thor!" Jane's voice broke him from his temporary paralysis, as she stared concerend between the both of them, "What did you do to him? Is he dead?"

The thought that his brother might actually be dead caused such a state of panic within him that he jumped to his feet, forgetting about Mjolnir that lay on the ground next to him, running over and landing on his knees next to his brother's crumpled blue form. "Loki!" Thor called to his brother, reaching out to flip Loki over. As his hand connected with Loki's hand he pulled it back, startled at the coldness of his brother's now blue skin. He shook his head, ignoring it in his panic as he flipped Loki over, pulling him into his lap and cradling his brother. Thor wrestled the horned helmet from Loki's head, eyes going over all the strange blue markings over Loki's skin. He brushed his brother's black hair from his face, rubbing circles into Loki's cheek with his thumb as he said, "Loki, Loki, wake up. Come on brother, I'm so sorry."

Jane watched the sight before her, and for a second she felt bad. Was this her fault? No, it wasn't. She got up quickly, running to Thor's side to see an unconscious Loki. "What exactly happened to him? Thor, what did you do?"

"I...I don't know!" Thor exclaimed, "My father taught me to do it. He said that there might be a day when Loki's magic would become a problem so I...I...I wasn't thinking straight...I didn't mean..." Thor fell silent as he continued to hug and rock his younger brother in his lap, looking absolutely terrified. "Oh, my dear younger brother please don't be dead, I'm so sorry."

"Thor how could you?!" Jane exclaimed, the anger evident in her voice. Thor simply stayed silent, taking the tongue lashing Jane was dishing out at him. As far as he was concerned he deserved it. He wasn't even really listening anymore, the only thing that was running through his head was how much damage he had done to Loki.

When Loki twitched, Thor's heart fluttered and he called his brother's name repeatedly. Loki's eyes opened slowly, and Thor was taken aback by the sheer strangeness of them. In place of the lovely jade he was used to, was as stark red. Loki blinked a few times, the recent events coming back to him. His body felt unnaturally heavy, and the comfort of his magic flowing through him out of reach. He felt cold and exposed, and his body felt heavy and clumsy without it. He felt empty...a husk of his former self. The pain had receded, leaving in it's wake the worst headache Loki had ever had, and the worst fury he had ever experienced. In a second Loki sat up, Thor having to throw himself backward to avoid the cracking of their heads. Immediately Thor knew something was wrong, so he got to his feet, attempting to explain what he had done, to apologize.

"Loki, I...you must listen I did not mean-"

"Silence, you pathetic, stupid imbecile!" Loki's voice thundered louder than Thor had ever heard it, as he watched in sadness as he brother struggled to stand. Loki struggled with his own body, the grace and fluidity and lightness it once held all but gone. When he finally managed to right himself, he reached with a cold hand into his armor, back turned to Thor.

Thor stood watching Loki, startled by the mist of cold that emanated from Loki's blue skin, and he atttempted once more to voice his regret, "Loki that was not what I meant to do! I swear, my dear brother, please."

"Don't you DARE call me your brother, you...you..."Loki faltered, as a wave of the feeling of completle _emptiness_ washed over him, "You _traitor._ _ **"**_

Tears welled up in Thor's eyes at Loki's words. How could he have done that to his delicate younger brother? Magic was all Loki had...and Thor had taken it from him. "I'm sorry Loki." Thor whispered, hoping to at least get his regret through to his younger brother. But Loki did not wish to hear as he whispered, voice cold as eyes with drips of venom, "Sorry...isn't...good enough."

It was then that Loki twisted himself around, lunging toward Thor with venom and malice in his eyes. Thor had seconds to react as he held out his hand to call forth Mjolnir; but the hammer stayed rooted in place. "What?!" Thor called out in surprise at why his hammer refused to respond to him.

Loki hit him like a locomotive, the sheer _power_ of Loki's tackle knocking the breath from him as they went crashing to the floor, Loki's heavy weight on top of him; straddling him, keeping him down. "Loki!" Thor shouted, trying to push his crazed younger brother off of him, "What are you doing brother? Please!"

"Shut up you bastard!" Loki screamed at him, and Thor could see that Loki no longer remained behind those vibrant red eyes; replaced by a crazed, hate fueled monster. Loki continued his screaming. "You son of a bitch! I'll KILL you!" It was then that Thor caught the glint of what was in Loki's right hand. A dagger.

Thor brought his hands up to defend himself as Loki brought his arm down with such force that Thor felt like his wrist might break, as he tried desperately to block the savage stabs. "Why! Don't! You! Just! DIE!" Loki paused between each stab, bringing the blade down hard and fast, Thor's wrist's stopping the blows inches from his body, as he screamed at Loki to stop.

"Stop!" Jane was screaming in the background, unsure of what do to, "Just stop! Don't hurt him!" But Loki was not listening. She turned, running from the room, to get help.

"Loki, please! Stop this brother! I'm sorry!"

"NO! No you're not! You have no IDEA what you just took from ME! I HATE YOU! I want you DEAD! YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN IN THE WAY!" Loki stopped the stabs for a moment, just staring down in his brother's eyes, face devoid of all emotion blade poised to strike in the air, and Thor look pleadingly up at this thing that used to be his brother. And then Loki whispered, "Now die." And the blade came down.

Loki's arm connected with Thor's, and the snap as Thor's wrist broke echoed throughout the room; the wind knocked out of him as the blade connected with his chest, plunging in and breaking the metal of his breastplate, and Thor could feel the sting as the blade broke skin. When Loki felt the contact He ripped it out, and then did it again, and again, and again, screaming in fury and hate and resentment; and only after the rage had begun to subside did he realize that his brother had stopped fighting; and only then, did he come back to himself.

He stared blankly at the dagger in his hand, covered in blood, shimmering, wet, and fresh. He could smell it, _taste_ it. It was everywhere. He was reluctant to look beneath him. He knew what he had done. But he looked anyway.

Thor lie upon the ground beneath him, breastplate torn open by the sheer brutality of the stabs, and blood was pooling inside of it. Loki could not count the amount of wounds that littered his brother's broken body. Thor's right wrist lay at an awkward angle beside him, obviously broken. Loki did not move when he heard the doors crash open, the voices yelling and screaming and the sound of running feet.

Almost immediately he was dragged roughly off his brother's broken form, and held by the arms in a locked position. He did not fight them, he simply allowed himself to be dragged and held, as he heard them shouting, Banner running over to Thor with a bag of what Loki assumed were medical supplied. Loki was vaguely aware of Quicksilver holding a screaming Wanda away from Thor...it looked to Loki as if she wished to finish him off. He wouldn't be surprised if Wanda was raging over what Thor had done to him. He was aware that many of the Avengers stared at him in horror and what he assumed was fear. He watched emotionless as everything faded to black.

* * *

"What has happened to me?" Thor's voice echoed, as he stood in the solid white room, confused. Where was he? He was completely alone, and there was not anything, or anyone in sight. He was startled. He could not remember how he had gotten here. The last thing he remembered was the pain, and the regret, and the betrayed look on Loki's face.

It was then that he saw two forms walking toward him. He recognized them immediately. His mother and father walked toward him, clothed in their ceremonial garb as Thor often remembered them. He was overjoyed to see them, but his smile quickly faded when he saw the hurt look in their eyes. "Mother! Father! What is going on? Where are we? What-"

" _Silence, my son."_ Odin's voice echoed in this empty space, and Thor fell silent at the sound of his voice. Odin continued in a quiet voice, quieter than Thor had ever heard him before, his kingly air gone now like a fleeting wind, _"What have you done, my son?"_

Thor was silent for a long moment before he understood what his father was referring to. And immediately the guilt returned, and with a heavy heart he said, "I did not mean to, Father. I...I have made the same mistake as I had once done to you. I acted out of fury. I never meant to...to..." Thor stopped for fear his voice would crack with his emotion, as he tried to swallow the sadness that overtook him.

But Frigga's voice was as calm and soothing as the gentle tide, _"Do not fear, my son. Everything will be alright. We know you love Loki, and would do nothing to hurt him."_

His mother's reassuring words calmed him, but did nothing to lessen the deep rooted feeling of guilt within himself. Then his father spoke once more, _"We have simply come to tell you to tread lightly, guard your heart, and be careful with Loki. If you push him away now, we may all lose him forever."_

Thor pondered his father's foreboding words, as he asked, "Father, tell me why Mjolnir did not respond to me? I called out to her and she did not come." Odin simply gazed upon him with sadness, _"You were not worthy."_

Thor let it sink in as their forms began to recede. He called out to them, "Wait! Please, don't go!" But they receded anyway, and he heard their voices on the wind, _"We love you. Take care of your brother, he needs you."_

And then suddenly a bright light came from in front of him, exploding the white room to pieces and leaving him in blackness...

* * *

"This is insane!" Steve bellowed, pacing around the room, making everyone on edge. "Did you see what happened to Thor and Loki? We were lucky Banner was here, or we would have lost them both!" He continued his pacing, trying to steady his breathing. Banner sat on a chair in the corner of the room, looking rather tired and exhausted. He was glad the Dark Elves Loki had brought with him had found a way to subtly heat the room without melting anything.

It was still chilly, but it was rather warm now. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, relieved that he had been able to revive and stabilize both of them. Thor and Loki now lay in respective beds, both breathing heavily and looking rather terrible but stabilized. He simply sighed and shook his head at Steve's ranting, tired of it all and rather wishing he could crawl into his designated bed and go to sleep, without having to worry about making sure the two brother's survived the night.

"God, we're on some planet we barely understand, trying to prepare for some kind of war we don't even know anything about, and now we're turning on each other! This is so bad..."

"Come on, Steve, it's not _that_ bad. We're all still alive, even though our tower was destroyed...again. And we are still together. And being on this planet it's so bad, because that means Doom doesn't know where we are either. It could be a lot worse." Natasha's voice was calm and a voice of reason as she sat on the floor next to Bruce, rubbing his shoulder calmly. He simply turned his head and gave her a weak smile. She returned it to him, before gazing back at Steve. "So stop pacing and just sit down. You're making everybody nervous."

Steve sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I just...I need to calm down I think." Natasha nodded in agreement, as Bruce yawned loudly, stretching and leaning back in his chair. Natasha mouthed a 'thank you' to him as she motioned to Thor and Loki. Banner nodded, but still seemed exhausted. Jane, Darcy, and Selvig were on the upper floor stowed away safely in private quarters, fully equipped with the Dark Elves new heating system. Natasha had housed them up there for safekeeping. She thought it would be better to move them somewhere where the Avengers wouldn't have to constantly be dealing with them.

Plus, Jane had been a mess when they had finally gotten to Thor and Loki. It had taken Natasha, Darcy, and Erik almost an hour to calm her down. And when they finally had she had been completely exhausted. But Natasha could relate to Jane's broken state of mind. Walking into a room to see your lover's brother stabbing him to death had to be a scarring sight to say the least. Natasha pitied her. She also worried about the state of the two brother's relationship, and dreaded when they would awaken. No doubt it would be very difficult.

Wanda had been rather broken herself. But Quicksilver had taken care of that. He had had to pull Wanda out of the room for fear that she'd have finished Thor off. Natasha had come to be aware of the fact that Wanda obviously held some sort of feeling towards Loki. It was becoming obvious. But Natasha also worried that Loki had been playing the poor girl for a loop.

She gazed around and their haphazard group and wondered where it all went wrong.

Probably when they decided to trust the God of Mischief.

But she couldn't blame it all on him. That wasn't fair. He had been rather helpful wit the time he had spent in the tower, and even know he had offered them refuge and allies. It had made her think that maybe he held ulterior motives to help them, but then she thought maybe, truly, somewhere deep inside of that icy heart, he wished to atone for his wrongdoing.

But then again she didn't know him that well.

As she thought about it, Clint entered the room, looking just as sullen as the rest of them, holding a piece of paper in one hand, walking up and holding out to Steve. After a moment of hesitation, Steve took it from him, gazing it over.

Natasha watched his face pale slightly. So it was bad news then.

"This...isn't good." Steve's voice was soft as he gazed at the paper. Clint responded accordingly, "No, it isn't. I found it out just a few minutes ago. Figured you all should know..." His voice trailed off, leaving everyone feeling a whole lot worse then before.

"What is it, Cap?" Natasha asked, intrigued and worried about what he was going to tell her. Steve took a deep breath, before he answered in a quiet voice.

"Seven days."

"What?"

"Seven days." Steve repeated, folding the paper continuously until it was nothing but a tiny square. "We have seven days before Doom launches his attack...on Time Square." The Avengers were stunned into silence, as they sat in the darkened room, Steve's words still hanging in the air, dreadful and foreboding. After a few moments, Banner said quietly, "What are we gonna do?"

Steve shook his head, remaining silent. There wasn't much they _could_ do. How was one supposed to combat a giant portal producing weapon?

It was then in that moment that they began to hear whooping and yelling, and running footfalls echoing throughout the hallways. Steve turned toward the door just as Tony burst through it, out of breath with a huge lopsided smile on his face.

"What's gong on, Tony?" Steve asked, "Calm down."

"I've done it!" Tony shouted, waving around a folder in the air excitedly, before dropping it, picking it back up, and waving it around in everyone's face once more. "I've done it! Do you see? I finally figured it out!" He proceeded to do something that Steve could only assume was a 'happy dance', as he twirled about shouting, "We're saved!"

Natasha sighed, rubbing her temples as she spoke irately, "You wanna tell us what the hell you're talking about?"

"I'm talking about this!" He held the folder up in the air proudly, "I did it!" Natasha simply sat dumbfounded, glaring at Tony for a few long moments, before Tony finally blurted, "I figured out how to stop the portal from opening!"

Steve was interested immediately. "What do you mean? You figured it out? No kidding!" Tony nodded in his excitement, gripping Steve by the shoulders and shouting, "I did! I figured out how to stop it!"

Natasha sighed as the two men went of it reverie, and Steve, who just a second ago seemed like he wanted to jump off the nearest bridge, danced around in glee along with Tony, who she didn't really think was even acutely aware of what was happening. She just rolled her eyes, trying to suppress the smile that wanted to creep it's way across her lips.

Steve continued, looking at Tony and exclaiming, "Then we can stop it! How soon can you have your research completed?"

Tony glanced at the ground for a few moments, deep in through, before nodding his head and replying, "If I get Banner and Erik to help me, as soon as...three days, tops." Steve smiled, overjoyed, laughing now and Natasha thought that perhaps all the stress had caused him to snap. But instead his laughing slowed down, "Then we can still do this."

"But wait!" Tony spoke up, "Not to be a stick in the mud but...If we can't disable the weapon before it opens the portal, we won't be able to close it fast enough to stop at least something getting through the portal. So we may...we should prepare for, a fight similar to the one last time. You know, just in case." Steve nodded in understanding, "Thank you, Tony." Steve patted him on the shoulder, and Tony nodded, turning to head back to his lab, shouting, "And now I think I'll take a rest and celebrate! I heard these Frost Dudes telling me their liquor is like ten times stronger than ours!" He turned back for just a second, asking, "Oh hey, back in the tower, did anybody notice that the scepter Loki was using is the scepter I'm looking for?"

Everyone simply deadpanned at him, as he shrugged, "Yeah, I can't figure it out either. Ah well, I'll keep looking for it."

Before Steve could chastise him, he was gone, his voice an echo on the wind as he disappeared.

* * *

Jane sat on the over-sized bed that she was assigned, swinging her feet back and forth, which barely touched the floor due to the absolute huge size of the bed. She had been in hysterics earlier, and the previous episode had left her quite exhausted, eye's hurting and quite the headache to deal with. She had been so furious with Thor. Loki had not meant to hurt her. She had heard him begin to apologize, and she had begun to tell him that everything was okay, that it was an accident and she had forgiven him, when Thor had done whatever it was he had done.

She had been so taken aback by Loki's change in colors, and the pain that it had cause him she had been temporarily paralyzed. It was when Loki began acting strangely that she had run off to get help, and she dreaded what would have happened had she not gotten back in time.

Natasha had told her that Thor had been lucky indeed. If Banner had not been there...then both of them...she got the chills just thinking about what might have happened.

Then there was a knock on her door. Soft and barely audible, but she had heard it anyway. "Come in," She said quietly, silently hoping that the visitor would take the hint and leave. But she had no such luck, as the Scarlet Witch entered her room, closing the large door softly behind her.

"How are you holding up?" Wanda asked Jane, who sat on the bed staring at the carpet on the floor. Jane simply shrugged, her voice tired, "Okay, I guess. It's kind of horrifying see the man you love get murdered by his psycho brother."

"Hey!" Wanda snapped, not unkindly, "That is not fair. Loki is not psycho. Could you imagine what amount of pain he had went through? What he must have felt?" Jane stopped to consider Wanda's words, before she went to speak. But she was at a loss for words. She had not considered that point very thoroughly. She had simply concluded that Loki had done it out of anger...she had never considered he might have done it out of hurt and betrayal.

"Could you imagine the pain he must have felt at that sort of betrayal? By a brother?" Wanda continued, "I could never imagine Quicksilver doing such a thing to me."

"You're...right. I never even...I feel so terrible."

"Don't worry about it. Banner said they should both be fine. They are stable now. They will awaken soon." Wanda's voice was rather soothing to Jane. She had never had many female friends, and the fact that Wanda had taken the time to console her meant a lot to her. "I'm not really looking forward to it."

"I understand." Wanda agreed. She stood up to leave the room, but stopped for a moment as Jane asked, "You have feelings for him, don't you?"

"I...I guess I do."

* * *

Loki opened his eyes quickly, the room around him coming into focus slower than usual, the light from the window hurting his eyes as they adjusted rather slowly. He was immediately aware of a dull ache, that radiated through every inch of his being, and he was also acutely aware of the fact that something important was missing from him.

His resentment returned.

He sat up slowly, the memories of what he assumed were yesterday's events came trickling into his befuddled mind, as the fog that clouded it slowly began to recede. He realized that he was lying in a bed, and across from him another bed, covered in blood but otherwise empty. He had no doubt who had slept there. Even the thought of his brother made him beyond angry, and he could do nothing but repeat what his brother had done, playing it over and over endlessly in his head like a loop.

How could Thor have done this?

How could Thor have turned him into a monster?

He raised his arms to look at himself, completely aware of the horror he'd find embedded into his very skin. And it was there. Loki guessed that by taking his magic, Thor had also unknowingly unlocked whatever seal Odin had placed on him to keep his true form at bay. Loki could almost laugh out loud. Now he was just as much a monster on the outside...as he was on the inside. Loki did laugh this time; irony had a funny way of rearing it's ugly head. But it took Loki several moments to fully realize he did not hurt his brother out of anger.

Thor and finally fully turned on him. His big brother; the brother that was supposed to protect him, to love and care for him...had taken the only thing Loki had left in the world. He felt hurt, betrayed, angry beyond belief. And in denial over his loss. And the pain that had been unbearable at the beginning had now faded to a dull ache, but had not receded. Loki guessed that when half your fucking _soul_ was ripped out, it didn't heal easily. Loki vaguely wondered if he still retained the natural racial ability of cryokinesis. But he did not even wish to attempt it. The loss he was feeling was unimaginable, and if only helped in causing him to recede further into the pit of darkness he was already wading in.

He knew what he had to do.

He could fix this...couldn't he?

But first, he needed to speak to his brother.

Thor sat outside, watching as Steve trained with two younger Jotunn's, who, in Thor's opinion, did not quite understand how to wield a blade properly. He could almost laugh, if the sadness weighing heavily on his heart was not all consuming. He felt his hip where Mjolnir usually rested, but found it empty and unwieldy. He had not been able to move her from her spot on the floor in the room where he had...he could still not believe he had done such a thing. He was supposed to love and protect his little brother. Not be the one to hurt him so...

The look of absolute betrayal in Loki's eyes had hurt him the worst. He could not get the image to leave his head, no matter what he tried. He still held pain in his chest where Loki had...he had deserved it, and had taken it rightfully so. He could not say the same for his wrist however, which remained splinted for the moment as it healed at a speed that surprised even Bruce. With Loki's natural form unchecked, Thor suspected he had accessed the natural strength the race carried...It had been impressive to see his smaller brother shatter his wrist with a single blow, Loki's own arm going unharmed.

Thor also wondered what the meaning of the...dream? He had had was. He had seen his mother and father. He vaguely wondered if he had ruined any chances of repairing his and Loki's relationship. He guessed he probably had. He also guessed that his loss of Mjolnir and his injuries were severance in regards to his despicable actions. It cut him deep...he cut _himself_ deep.

It was then that he sensed a presence behind him, slightly unfamiliar but holding the same basic qualities. He turned to find Loki gazing at him in a rather hair prickling way, red eyes boring into him but devoid of any visible emotion.

Thor could not find any words to say, so he stayed silent, inwardly thankful that his brother had recovered and was now awake.

It was a long while before Loki spoke, voice rather unsteady, and filled with a hurt unfathomable, and just hearing the tone of it made Thor want to fall to his knees and cry, begging his little brother for a forgiveness he did not deserve. "Why?"

"What?" Thor asked, unsure of what Loki meant, wanting to tread lightly.

"Why?" Loki repeated, in the same flat tone, with the same expressionless face. Thor wished that his brother did not do things such as this...but he could not deny he could _feel_ the emotions radiating off of Loki. Thor asked dumbly, "Why what?"

"Why did you...why, brother?"

"I..." Thor did not know how to answer him, so he simply resigned to saying what he truly felt. "I...I do not know I...acted on emotion like a fool, as I always was. I beg your forgiveness brother, I can never express to you how truly sorry I am." Thor went silent for a few moments, before adding, "I can only hope I haven't screwed up so badly that I've lost the only chance I'll ever have to get my brother back..." By this time Thor had taken to his knees in front of Loki, gazing up and him with an apologetic and pleading look on his face. Loki's expression did not change or falter.  
He simply replied in a flat tone, "You are a fool. And you have betrayed me yet again."

"No, Loki, no!"

"Silence, _brother."_ Loki's voice had finally returned to it's previous quality, sarcasm and all, as a look of irritation and maybe malice spread onto his previously emotionless face, "I have expected this to happen. Now I must go fix the damage you have done, yet again."

Thor watched as Loki passed him by, robes trailing behind him and after a few steps Loki turned to him and called, "You wanna watch?"

Thor did not know how to answer, but followed Loki back into the chamber where Thor had first done his mistake, and Mjolnir stayed rooted in the same spot as before. A million things were running through Thor's mind as Loki entered the center of the room, turning to Thor, and it was only then that Thor saw the glint of the hidden blade in Loki's hand. A smile crept across Loki's face as he revealed the blade to Thor who watched in horror as Loki poised the blade upward, inhaling deeply, and silently praying that it was going to work as planned.

Thor screamed, horrified, "LOKI NO!", as he took off running to stop his little brother.

But before he could reach Loki, his younger brother gasped as the blade pierced his chest, the pain electric as it traveled through his body, the breath leaving him, and his vision blurring immediately. Everything began fading out, and Loki could feel himself falling, almost endlessly, as he wondered to himself, his consciousness leaving him...

 _Is this what it feels like...to die?_


	10. And It All Comes Together

By the time the Avengers had heard the screaming and gotten to the chamber, everything was already over. They had found Thor, a broken, tearful, shell of a man, cradling and rocking Loki's crumpled, bloody body in his lap as he wailed and muttered things unintelligible.

It had not taken long to figure out that Loki had perished. Several others had taken to tears as well, leaving Jane, Wanda, Thor, Darcy, and Quicksilver almost completely incapacitated. Several times Steve, Tony, and Erik attempted to pull Thor from his brother's body, only for Thor to roughly throw them away, screaming curses and threats and insults, before resuming his rocking and muttering, his wailing reverberating around the room; matched only by Wanda and Jane's cries.

So they had waited longer, Quicksilver attempting to console his broken sister, Darcy and Erik consoling Jane, and the rest of the Avengers sitting around in stunned and saddened silence. So they waited, and waited, and after a long time, Steve got up to try once more. He knew that Thor could not hold the body forever. He motioned for Tony to follow, so Tony, saddened as much as everyone else at the tragedy, got up to follow, as they approached Thor slowly. Thor's wails had lessened as the time had gone on, and he sat mostly in silence now, and it seemed to them his tears had stopped, and he simply sat silently, staring off into space and cradling his brother's body.

"Thor," Steve attempted, reaching out to lay a hand on the large Asgardian's shoulder. He braced himself to be thrown off, but nothing happened, and Steve thought that perhaps Thor had tired himself out. He continued, treading carefully, "I think we should take you upstairs. I'm sure you'd like to be alone, and staying here can't possibly be helping you."

Steve awaited a response, but received not even a recognition. He glanced at Tony, who shrugged and shook his head. Tony reached out slowly, carefully, lifting and maneuvering Loki's body from Thor's lap, making a show to Thor of setting the body down gently, making sure that the head was rested with care.

As Thor did not respond, Tony and Steve gripped him by the underarms of both sides, lifting him slowly with some difficulty, pulling him to his feet, and steadying him. When Thor still did not respond, Steve said, "We're gonna take you back to your room, okay?" He motioned for Tony to follow as they assisted the God of Thunder up to his room.

Once they had left, Wanda broke free of her brother's hold on her, rushing over to the God of Mischief's body, which lay as they had left it, face up on the floor. She knelt beside him, staring at the strange color of his skin, and wincing at the chill of it as she brushed his cheek with her fingers gently. She realized that this was the first time she had touched him.

He was cold.

It seemed as Thor or Steve had close his eyes at some point, for there were closed now...and Wanda was silently thankful for that. Her tears still flowed, and she watched as some of them dripped onto his face. She wiped them away, stroking his cold skin as she cried. "You fool." Her voice was a whisper, dripping with venom and anger. "How could you?"

It had taken a whole of almost four hours to clear everyone from the room, and to get everyone away from the body, which still held a dagger lodged in the chest cavity. Steve still had a hard time believing what had happened. It had taken Thor a whole five hours to finally tell them what had happened, and even then he was so far from himself that it almost scared them.

Finally, after Steve had made sure that everyone was calm, did he decide to speak, as they all sat around what seemed to be a living room, sulking and sullen and in every sense of the word generally sad. His voice broke the perpetual silence and rang out like a bell, stinging everyone's ears as he spoke, "We...need to have a discussion." He paused, gazing around at everyone, "A big one." He was met with only silence, the other simply staring at the floor or wall or something or another, Wanda and Thor still teary-eyed and rather unstable.

"Loki is dead." Steve felt rather stupid saying such an obvious thing, but he knew that it needed to be said aloud. "I know everyone's rather shaken over this, and rightfully so. But we really need to discuss where we go from here."

He received some halfhearted nods from around the room, but no one really attempted to show much interest. He continued, "Loki held most of our allies, and now we're stuck in a realm we barely understand, with no way back. Unless Thor can find us a way off of this planet. Plus, I don't think the Frost Giant's are gonna take kindly to us pretty much killing there new king. This was a terrible loss...for all of us."

"Yeah, that doesn't sound good. Look's like we're up shit's creek without a paddle, huh?" Tony stated, looking uncharacteristically sullen himself. Everyone stayed silent before he continued, "I mean, it's only a matter of time before someone comes looking for Loki. With him being King of the Jotti's or whatever and the leader of the small dark guys someone is bound to notice that he's missing."

"You're right." Steve agreed, "If they think we killed him...they'd imprison us. Or kill us. Or-"

"Yeah, yeah, that's enough." Natasha cut him off before he could do any more damage with his words. "But are you forgetting we still have to deal with Doom. We only have four days left." The room was then filled with sighs and gasps, as they remembered exactly what lay in store for them by then. Steve sighed, "Yeah, I know. I was kind of counting on the forces Loki had promised."

"Why the hell would you count on anything a trickster says?" Bruce asked, irritated by all of this and tired beyond belief, before saying in a quiet voice, "I'm sorry."

Steve nodded to him that he was forgiven, before he stated, "Because we had no other options. What other allies did we have to choose from? We almost didn't make it last time this happened, and I was hoping we'd have better back up this time..."

"Well it's not like Loki betrayed us or anything. He's dead!" Natasha exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "Even if he was going to..." Suddenly she felt ashamed of what she was going to say, "He...never got the chance."

"I don't see how this could have happened...They're brothers!" Bruce exclaimed, "This is horrible."

"Agreed." Tony said, munching on what looked to be some kind of pastry, "We might never get home."

Then everyone was glaring at him. "What?" He asked, taking another bite and shrugging it off, and turning away from the group to face the wall in what Natasha assumed was a pout. The silence crept up on them once more, but this time it was a heavy, regretful, saddened silence.

It made the air itself hard to breath...stifling.

Natasha spoke then, if even to just break the heavy silence, "How's Thor holding up?"

Steve answered her grimly, "Not very well, I'm afraid. He's still...a pretty big mess." Steve looked up at the ceiling, sighing deeply and trying to think of a way to get morale up at least a little bit. But he doubted that anything would help at this point. They were definitely down in the dumps; that was for sure. He wasn't sure what left there was too do. He knew a lot of them just wanted to give up. And Thor and Wanda were both pretty much completely dead inside.

What were they to do?

"Maybe one of us should check on Thor?" Natasha asked, "Or Wanda?" She shifted in her seat as she gazed around at them, "It hit them both pretty hard."

"You're right," Steve agreed, "We probably should, but," he sighed, "The best thing for them right now would probably be a little bit of alone time. We'll check on them soon."

"There is one thing I'd like to know though." Tony's voice rang out clearly, a bell in a room of silence.

"And what's that?" Natasha asked, leaning against Bruce who still looked rather tired, as they had tried earlier to console one another. Tony continued, "How the hell Loki...God of nothing but Mischief...brought Quicksilver back to us...and that creepy elf guy..." The silence was perpetual once more.

* * *

Wanda lay on her bed, the room dark and the door closed and locked; her face buried deep within her pillow. The pillow was by far soaked by now, and still the tears leaked from her eyes, wetting it even further. The sobs had stopped long ago, now the tears just dripped from her eyes like rainwater as she turned her head to the side, gazing at the wall next to her, taking a deep breath of fresh air.

Her head hurt, as did her chest from all the sobbing and crying she had done.

Her and Jane had even cried together for a short time, Jane telling her about the time she had met Loki and how Loki had saved her life. Loki was not all bad...and Wanda had seen that.

She regretted not being able to tell Loki how she felt. She had had so many chances...and the kiss they had shared that day...

A new series of sobs overtook her, and she wished they would stop...they hurt. But they continued anyway as she curled up into her self, stuffing her face back into her pillow and half wishing she'd suffocate to death. But she could never do that to her brother. Especially not after Loki had brought him back for her.

She had meant to talk to him about it, to thank him...to show him how thankful she was for him going to such measures to retrieve her brother. She had remembered him telling her once, the day before Quicksilver had been returned to her in fact...he had looked as if he regretted saying but he had said it none the less. He had told her, in nay a whisper, ' _I could never imagine the pain it would cause me to lose Thor...'_

She had assumed from the very start that Loki still cared for his older brother. There was no hiding it. She did not doubt Loki's abilities, and she was sure that if he had truly wanted his brother dead he would have assured it.

Wanda knew the strength of a sibling bond firsthand.

She had contemplated suicide at the beginning, but had pushed the thought out of her head. It would have solved nothing. Finally her sobs seemed to quiet down, but the tears still flowed, and the occasional sob still escaped every now and again. "Oh Loki..." She whispered, "If only I had had the chance..."

It was then that she felt a subtle pressure on her consciousness, the gentle press of another's magic. She sat bolt upright in bed, fear and anger engulfing her immediately, as she gazed around the dark room, unable to see clearly because of the lack of light. "Who is there?! Show yourself!"

She called her magic to her fingers, not yet releasing it, but keeping it ready should she need to defend herself. Then she heard a small rustle come from the corner of her room, as a large form melted out of the shadows, coming together to form a familiar silhouette.

"If you wish," came the reply, followed by a sigh, and tears sprang to her eyes immediately, her eyes widening as she gasped, clasping a hand to her mouth for fear she might scream.

Loki, in all his glory, skin back to normal, eyes a vibrant green, fully adorned with his armor and horned helmet, scepter in hand, stood before her, looking like he was somewhere between wincing and being nervous. After a few moments of awkward silence, their eyes locked, and they stared at each other for a long time. After a little while, Loki spoke, soft and quiet, "Hello, Witch."

"Loki..." Her voice was a broken whisper.

And then she was on her feet, barreling toward him. Loki went stumbling back into the wall as she rammed into him with her body, sending them both into the wall rather hard, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into Loki's breastplate, gripping that signature green cape that always adorned his armor, and sobbing.

Loki looked down at the mortal beneath him, stunned as she cried into his armor, gripping his cape with both hands tightly. Gently, hesitantly, Loki wrapped his arms around her small form, pulling her in close to him, as she shook with the force of her tears. He gently rubbed circles into her back, before bringing a hand up to cup her head, rubbing it gently, careful not to push her too hard into his armor. After a few moments, her shaking slowed, and the sobs had all but stopped entirely. He let her go as she pulled away. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get anything out, her hand came down hard across his face, the slap echoing loudly throughout the room.

Loki turned his head back toward her slowly, taking a deep breath, having expected this type of reaction. After a few seconds the rage on her face dissipated, being replaced by a look of fear, joy, and...something Loki could not place...besides the anger of course.

Her voice was soft when she finally spoke, "Loki..."

"Yes?" He asked, gazing at her, awaiting what she had to say. After a few more moments she finally responded, saying, "You have your magic back."

"Yes." Loki replied, waiting for her to continue.

"Loki...how could you?" She took a deep breath, "How could you put me through that? I thought...I..." She went silent as the tears threatened to overcome her once more. Loki simply sighed, his gaze upon her softening, "I...I had too...I...I did not intend for it to hurt you so badly, I..." Loki struggled for the words to say as he watched her tear up again, so he blurted, "When I saw how bad it was hurting you I had to tell you the truth." His eyes widened, as he gulped, Wanda gazing at him incredulously, "What do you mean, 'the truth'?" Her eyes blazed red in fury, as Loki laughed nervously, trying to think of a way to cover his mistake. But had no such luck.

He sighed defeated, "I...did not die, because of this." It a wave of his hands, a book materialized in his hands, and he held it up for her to see.

"What is that?" She asked, looking it over in awe.

"It is the book of Hel. It controls the dead, and the lives of the living." Loki stated as he waved his arms once more, the book vanishing from his grip. "If names are written in a certain way, then one may...keep themselves from...perishing." Loki paused to allow Wanda to take in what he was saying before he finished, "I did so before Thor sealed away my magic. I figured that if I killed myself, my magic would be restored; and I was correct. And now here I am."

All he received was another slap, hard, across the face for his explanation. He sighed deeply once more, as he said to her in a soft voice like velvet, "I am truly sorry, I...never meant to hurt you. I did not even consider...I was a fool to not think of this."

Wanda was silent as she studied him with her eyes, and Loki prepared himself for another blow that never came. Instead, he felt Wanda reach up and grab one of the horns of his helmet in a tight grip, pulling him roughly down to her size, before she crushed their lips together, holding him in place by his helmet and kissing him roughly, pushing herself against him with all her might.

Loki gasped in surprise, before relaxing against her, gently cupping the back of her head to hold in her place, as he gently kissed her back.

His other arm snaked around her waist as he pulled her up toward him, straightening up and holding her tightly against him, as her hand gently released his helmet and instead cupped his face with both hands. She let out a loud sigh as she felt his arm tighten around her.

She could not imagine losing him...It had been a living hell to know that she had almost lost him...especially without telling him how she felt. But she would not do so again.

She kissed him once more, before pulling away an inch or two, looking into his emerald eyes, saying, "I think I love you, God of Mischief."

Loki did not answer, but instead kissed her once more, this time deeper, holding less back. Wanda moaned quietly in response as Loki slid his tongue into her mouth, and was slightly surprised when she offered no resistance to him.  
He continued to kiss her as she felt her arms reach up behind his head, her magic unlocking his helmet as she slid it off his head, dropping it to the floor beside her and tangling her hands in his black hair. Loki moved his hands from her head down to her waist, before he slid her unzipped jacket from her shoulders, as she wiggled her arms to ease it's removal.

Loki's kisses progressively lowered, until he was kissing her neck, sucking gently and leaving small marks in his wake, listening to the small groans she emitted every time he would suck just a little bit harder. He shivered as a wave of excitement shot through him, as she raised his face back up to her, kissing him once more. She reached out for him, grabbing his hesitant hands and placing them on her hips, before returning her hands to his neck, stroking his hair gently.

He rested his hands on her hips for a few more seconds, before they traveled under her shirt, up her sides, rubbing gently, and Loki giggled as Wanda shivered, whispering into his lips, "That tickles." His hands stayed rooted to her sides, rubbing gently, until Wanda herself audibly whined, kissing him a little harder once before taking his hands and moving them to her chest.

At first Loki was hesitant, but at her insistence he began to fondle her, pushing her bra out of the way and pinching a nipple gently, earning a delighted noise from Wanda, that sent shivers down his spine. As he did this, he felt her slip her hands away from his neck, traveling down the front of his armor, and stopping at his waist, where the heavy armor broke off into combat pants.

Wanda kissed him just a little more passionately, trying to distract Loki as she worked her magic, using it to undo his pants. It was when she reached down toward them that Loki finally took notice, grabbing both her wrists in a tight hold, pulling his face a few inches away from hers, his voice a deeper tone than he remembered it, "Uh uh uh," he smiled a mischievous smile crossing his face in a rather malicious way, and then suddenly he was pushing into her.

Wanda gasped as she was forced backward by his enormous weight, and he kept on her until she was falling backward over the edge of the bed, the mattress cushioning her fall as the large Asgardian fell on top of her, holding his weight so that he did not crush her small mortal form.

He was back on her in a second, kissing her heatedly, slipping his tongue into her mouth, and moaning lightly as she responded accordingly. She wrapped her legs around him as he moved between them, careful not too crush her with his weight or his armor. She moaned loudly as she felt him press against her; and his kisses moved down once more as they traveled down her neck, down to her shoulder, where he bit down, hard.

"Ah!" She wiggled a little bit, but then still, arching up beneath him as a moan escaped her. Loki smiled into her skin, the insistent throbbing between his legs beginning to cause him mild discomfort. He sighed into her neck as he stilled his movements; there was nothing he wished to do more than to lay with her right here, right now, but he knew that he risked early discovery the longer he stayed. And such... _activities_ might draw even more unwanted attention.

He sighed again, kissing her deeply once more, before using absolutely all of his willpower to remove himself from her, leaning back and standing back up, taking a few steps backward from the bed, leaving a devastated Wanda on the bed in his wake.

"What? Where are you going?" Wanda asked him, sitting up to watch him as he redid his pants and reached down to grab his helmet from the floor, placing it back onto his head and locking it in place. Once he was finished, he answered, "Now..." He searched for a way to say this without having her be angry with him, "Now is not the right time. Believe me, there is nothing I'd want to do more but..."

"But what?" Came Wanda's angry voice as she put her jacket back on, not sure if she should be angry or not, missing the warmth of his body on hers.

"I cannot...be discovered right now. I have not finished...Ahem." He cleared his throat in the middle and hoped she had not heard the last part. He did not think she had, and he was silently thankful for it. He gazed at Wanda, then back to the door, then back again.

Because of what he was planning...he was not sure if he would ever get this chance again. And he really didn't want to pass it up because he...

He hoped she would not hate him.

"But why? What stops you from being with me? Is it me?" _Damn._ Loki sighed. He had hoped to avoid this. But he _did_ have a plan B that he had accounted for. He sighed, stringing together a what he hoped was convincing explanation.

"No, that's not it at all!" Loki exclaimed, and he crossed the room over to her, grasping her by the wrists, "You see, I had...an ulterior motive, for hiding from everyone." Wanda looked up at him with large eyes as he continued, "Asgard is in a state of...unrest, I would say. I needed to finish what I was doing there before I returned. So you see, if I was to be discovered to early, they would never let me out of their sights long enough to finish my task. Do you see?"

Wanda nodded, "Oh. I understand now."

He reached up to stroke her face, "Good. Oh! That reminds me, I made something for you. I couldn't help but notice how... _unprotected_ you are when you fight, so..." Wanda watched him in curiosity as, with a wave of his hands, a set of armor appeared in his hands. Wanda gasped, "Is that...for me?"

Loki nodded, setting it on the end table beside him, "Yes. I made it especially for you. It's been... _enhanced_ also." Wanda gazed at it, as it set on the table. It was crafted beautifully in silver Asgardian metal, with red trims and a small scarlet cape in the back. The helmet was what she enjoyed most about it though. The helmet was not so much a helmet as it was a faceplate, and on the face plate were two small horns, not even close to the size of Loki's, but still they were there.

"It's beautiful." Wanda thanked him, in awe.

""It will protect you, above all. That is all I was concerned for." Loki replied, "Now, I must leave." Loki turned toward the door, getting ready to cloak himself with magic, when he felt Wanda's hand clasp his wrist, pulling him away from the door and back to her, a smile on her face.

"No. You're not going anywhere."

* * *

Thor sat, staring at the stone floor. The image kept replaying itself in his mind over and over. He watched the betrayed look in Loki's eyes, he watched his brother's graceful form crumple and fall...And it was all his fault. Sure, Thor had watched Loki 'die' twice already, but nothing had compared to this. Watching the blade pierce his brother's chest, watching him fall, the life leave his eyes as his skin turned gray at the loss of blood...

It created a pain so deep within him that he wanted nothing more than to lie down and die beside his brother. He was no Asgardian, he was no prince. He was no God of Thunder. He had killed his younger brother. His family.

He didn't even have any tears left to cry. His eyes stung and his head hurt, his wrist throbbed, and the wounds on his chest had begun their bleeding again...a painful seeping that began to bleed through the bandages the longer he left it go. He could not even sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw his brother's bloody body, staring up at him with empty eyes...

Thor's hand subconsciously raised to rub against the bandages on his chest; He winced as he did so; even now they hurt severely, and even movement hurt. He had remembered the warning Bruce had given him...not to move to suddenly or he would rip open the wounds...and he had.

But Thor assumed he deserved it. He relished in the pain they caused.

It made him feel a little better.

He remembered falling unconscious and...he began to wonder if it had really been a dream, when he'd seen his mother and father. But then a strange thought occurred to him. Maybe he had actually died. Maybe the dream was some type of warning, or a premonition...maybe to this. Maybe he hadn't figured it out in time. Maybe he could have stopped Loki...the maybes went on and on, making his head spin and his heart hurt.

It was then that he fully noticed the location of the stab wounds on his chest, and his eyes widened in realization as he gazed down at them, surprised.

He should be dead.

It was then that it dawned on him and he headed for where the Avenger sat, discussing their most terrible situation. The room went silent as Thor entered, and he looked around and felt rather awkward as he asked, "What were you discussing?"

Tony answered first, "I asked how the hell Loki brought Quicksilver back to us."

Thor inhaled deeply, "I think I have an answer for that." The room went silent as everyone, especially Quicksilver, leaned in to listen as Thor began his speech. "You see, in Asgard, unlike here, we are raised knowing of the vast knowledge of our lands and the various other realms, including history, lore, and the such. They also teach of Valhalla, and Hel, the lands of the dead. The ruler of the dead is an ancient Goddess named Hela, who holds what we call the book of Hel. It holds the names of everyone ever born or created in all the nine realms. When they die, there name is either crossed out of the book, or check marked. My father told me that it is the book that allows Hela to control the dead. It is possible that Loki somehow managed to...apprehend...the book himself."

"You're kidding me?" Jane's voice rang out, "You're saying he not only went to the afterlife, but stole a book, and defied the laws of life itself?"

Thor nodded. "That is exactly what I am saying."

"But...then...that would make him..." Steve began, but quieted down in thought. Thor finished it for him, "A wielder of untold amounts of power."

And then everyone was suddenly a little afraid of Loki. Steve asked, "Do you know for certain that Loki had this, this, book of Hell?" Thor nodded, displaying his injured chest to them all, "I assume that he changed my name in the book as well. Obviously, I should be dead. But here I stand, recovering as if this were not a mortal wound, when it obviously is. I'm sure you can see where I'm coming from."

They all nodded, in awe.

Tony, who had been silently listening for most of the conversation, suddenly spoke, "If Loki has the power to keep people from dying, than what's to say that he can't do that to himself too?"

Then suddenly everyone was jumping from their seats and running for the chamber.

When they entered, it was not what they found that shocked them; but what they _didn't_ find. Loki's body was gone, the dagger that had rested in his chest was now imbedded in the ground; the pool of blood that had seeped from the body spread on the ground.

No body is sight...

"No!" Thor bellowed, "It's not possible! Where is his body!?" Thor demanded, gazing around the chamber, than back at the Avengers, a sullen look on his face. "If we can't find that body...then that confirms it. Loki has...the book."

* * *

Loki hesitated above her, but was reassured by a gentle kiss on his lips, as she pulled him toward her with her legs, which stayed firmly wrapped around him. His armor lay in a pile on the floor, along with whatever Wanda had been wearing, and her bedroom sat locked, the darkness thick and perpetual. He positioned and prepared himself, but then stopped to ask her, "You have done this before, no?"

There was a moment of silence, before Wanda shook her head no. Loki deadpanned, but sighed defeated. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips to reassure her as he warned, "Then this will hurt."

"What?" Wanda asked, suddenly nervous. But Loki smiled at her, kissing her again lovingly, "Don't worry, I would never hurt you on purpose. It will hurt, but only at first." She nodded in agreement with him, relaxing and leaning her head back on the bed as he whispered in her ear, causing her to shiver, "Then I promise nothing but the purest of ecstasy." Loki giggled, steadying and positioning himself. Loki began pushing himself into her slowly, going as easy as possible, gasping at the tight heat that surrounded him, resisting the urge to begin moving as Wanda let out the beginnings of a squeal.

"Silence!" Loki hissed, clasping a hand to her mouth as fast as possible, "Shhhh..." Loki whispered, holding her mouth as tight as possible, as he pushed the rest of the way into her, stopping only when he was sure e was sheathed to the hilt within her. He watched as her eyes filled with tears, but they did not spill over. She blinked them away, gazing at him. After a few moments of agonizing stillness, she nodded for him to continue. He removed his hand from her mouth, as he kissed her again. When he pulled away she said quietly, "Go ahead. _Move_."

He began his thrusting slowly, and was relieved as movement began easier with each of his thrusts. It had been such a long time since Loki had been with anyone...and she felt _so_ good.

Wanda moaned as his thrusts began to go deeper, and when he was sure she was ready, they got just a little bit harder, faster...

He did hold back however, for fear of breaking his delicate little mortal. " _Loki,_ " His name left her lips as a whisper, and her moaning increased with his movements.

"Do you like this?" Loki asked, unsure of whether or not he was pleasing her, but the moans he received in response were satisfying enough for him. He could have lasted much longer, but he doubted that mortals had the same amount of stamina that they did in Asgard. He sped up his movements in time with hers, as she groaned, _"Ah, Loki, I'm gonna..."_

She didn't finish, but Loki didn't need her too. He new what she was gonna say. _"I know darling, me too."_ Loki answered her, as his movements got a little more erratic.

It was when her moaning got louder, her toes curling, muscles clenching, that she clamped down around him in her ecstasy, and he released...deep within her, as he thrust a few more times before stilling above her, both of them sweaty and breathing hard, Loki resting his forehead on her shoulder, wide eyed and thoroughly mind fucked.

" _I love you."_ Wanda's voice was quiet as she tried to slow her breathing.

Loki hesitated...before he answered finally, _"I love you, too."_

* * *

"The body's nowhere to be found." Natasha said to Steve and the rest of them, who sat in the Chamber. Moments ago they had all split up to search the area for Loki's body, but none of them had been successful n finding it.

It had taken them about two hours to do so, and now they were back together, and Thor's face became suddenly extremely serious. "Then that's it then," Thor said, gazing around the chamber, before bending down to pick up Loki's dagger, that sat embedded in the floor where Loki's body had rested. Thor gripped it, staring at the familiar blade for a few long moments, hands gripping the handle tightly.

"Then he has the book."

"You mean he's alive?" Steve asked, gazing at Thor who continued to stare at the wonderfully crafted blade in his hands. "That is exactly what I am saying." The room went silent, before Steve spoke up once more, simply out of curiosity. "Why would Loki disappear like that for so long? What could he possible need to do that he had to hide from us?"

Thor thought for a long time, gazing around, before saying, "I...I don't know..." Then it hit him. If Loki had been alive since the Dark World, then that would mean that he had done something very similar to this...why would Loki...and that's when everything began to fall into place.

"No..." Thor whispered, "No, Loki...you..."

"What is it, Thor?" Natasha asked, confused by his sudden silence. Thor answered her after a few more minutes of silence, "I think...Loki..."

"Tell us!" Steve yelled, everyone beginning to get tense.

"I thought Loki had been dead since the Dark World. But he proved me wrong. As I'm assuming he did this time as well. And you all know that Loki's every move has been for a singular purpose. To gain the throne of Asgard."

"Yes..." Steve encouraged, waiting as Thor began speaking once more.

"After I thought Loki had been killed I spoke to my Father...though I'm not sure he really _was_ my father anymore, but I told him...that I wanted to be with Jane. I...I was a fool. Thinking my brother had perished I...relinquished my rights to the throne. And what other purpose would Loki need to get away from us for a time other than..."

"Usurping the throne." Steve finished Thor's sentence for him, as he watched Thor's hands clench into fists, a look of anger spreading across his face. He raised his right arm, holding it out, and suddenly Mjolnir was flying toward him, landing perfectly in Thor's outstretched hand. Thor then turned to the Avengers, a look of anger and determination on his face.

"We need to get to Asgard, immediately."

"And how do you plan on getting us there without Loki?" Tony asked, startling quite a lot of people, who must have forgotten he was there because of his constant silent. Thor smiled, answering, "I could use Mjolnir. Or," He laughed, "I could call Heimdal."

"Okay." Tony shrugged, satisfied by the answer. Thor nodded, "Then let's go." He looked up to the ceiling, getting ready to call Heimdal, but he was interrupted by Quicksilver, who waved his hand in front of himself.

"Hey," Quicksilver asked, a concerned and rather worried look on his face, "we can't leave yet!"

"Why not kid?" Clint asked, rubbing his shoulder, which happened to be incredibly sore.

"Because," He said, "Wanda's missing."

 _'And it all comes together...'_


	11. And Real?

"Wanda's missing."

"Have you checked her room yet?" Steve asked, as they Avengers gathered around him, readying themselves to head out. Quicksilver simply nodded his head no, looking rather worried for his sister's safety. "Alright then," Steve continued, "We'll check there first. If she's not there, then we'll figure out what our next course of action will be."

The Avengers nodded in agreement with him as they all took off down the hall, Quicksilver taking off in a flash, leaving the rest of them behind. "Quicksilver!" Steve called, and he stopped, turning back to them.

"Wait for us, it'll be better, in case she's in trouble, if we all show up together." Quicksilver nodded at Steve, and fell back with he rest of them, keeping a pace as they ran down the hallway toward Wanda's room. When they got there the door was closed, and Quicksilver, automatically thinking the worst had happened to his dear sister, kicked open the door.

There, standing in the center of the room, was Wanda. Her hair was rather a mess, and her face was thoroughly red, clothes disheveled. "Wanda!" Quicksilver exclaimed, "are you alright?"

"Of course brother," Wanda replied, trying to steady her rather body and voice, "I..." She fumbled for a valid excuse to use for her disheveled appearance, "I fell asleep. I'm sorry to have worried you."

There was a long silence for a moment before he answered hesitantly, "It's...alright. But we have to go!" Wanda looked at him, confused, "But why? Is something wrong?"

Steve was the one to answer her, in a voice full of anger, "Loki is alive." Wanda's eyes widened as she heard the anger in Steve's voice. Oh no...her mind raced, how had they figured out Loki was alive? Loki had been with here not five minutes ago... "How do you know this?" She asked him, gazing at him, her heart racing, endlessly worried about Loki.

"His body was gone, and Thor came to us with a rather...impossible idea, but it seems that that's the case after all..." She gulped. She had been afraid of this. Perhaps she could stall them for a little while? Give Loki a head start...It was then that Steve told her why they had to go after him.

"Loki has taken the throne of Asgard. He's betrayed us."

"What?" Wanda's heart was now in her throat, thudding so loud she could hear it in her head, and a rage she had never felt before gripped her in a vice, "You're kidding me..."

"Wish I was." Steve said, before waving in Thor's direction, "Alright now, Thor get us to Asgard!"

A smile spread across Thor's face as he looked up to the ceiling, calling, "Heimdal! Take us to Asgard!"

They waited for a few minutes, before Thor's smile faded, before he emitted a defeated sigh, "It seems that Loki has either ordered Heimdal to shut the Bifrost, or he has somehow incapacitated him. Either way, it seems we will be traveling in less...luxurious methods." It was then that he began swinging his hammer, the electricity in the air forming funnel, elongating, before opening a portal, a picturesque image of the rainbow bridge on the other side. "Alright, let us go, my companions. Be prepared for a fight."

The Avengers nodded in understanding, as they headed through the portal. It was one of the strangest things that Wanda had ever experienced. It gave one the feeling of falling for only a second, and then it was like you were in one place, but then you were in another, like, you blink and you're somewhere else. It was unlike anything she had ever seen or experienced. She gazed with wonder under her feet, at what Thor had called, 'the rainbow bridge'. It surged with electricity, and every step you took on the bridge made it emanate a different color. She marveled at how beautiful it was, and could only imagine the power it held.

A tall golden wall surrounded Asgard, and behind it, the largest building that she could see, was a tall, pointy like building, that she could only assume was the palace. Loki and Thor lived there, they had been raised there. It was almost magical.

"Thank the Norns that you've returned." The deep voice startled her as she turned to see one of the largest people she had ever seen, besides the Jottuns of course. He was huge, and held golden armor and a helmet almost as big as he; he had dark skin and the strangest eyes she had ever seen. "Loki has taken the throne."

"I knew it!" Thor bellowed, turning angrily to look at the palace, "Why has no one opposed him?" Heimdal sighed, shaking his head, "That is the problem. He has done so legally. You gave up your claim to the throne in the presence of Loki and a few guards loyal to him. It is Loki's right to sit upon the throne."

"That's impossible!" Thor's voice was beginning to echo, and Steve motioned for him to quiet down, but Thor continued, lowering his voice only slightly, "What of my father?!"

There was a long silence that followed, before Heimdal answered, "I...cannot see him."

Thor's face went very sullen, very fast. "I see." His voice was quiet now, as he said, "We shall return Heimdal. We will triumph, you'll see." Thor placed a hand on Heimdal's shoulder, "Watch over us, my friend." Heimdal nodded, casting his gaze over the rest of them, before saying, "I wish you all luck. But be wary, he commands more than Asgard's forces. The Dark Elves and the Jotunn's back up Asgard's new king."

"Thanks for the warning," Steve thanked, before turning to Thor. "Let's go." Thor nodded, walking toward the glorious city, "Aye. Let's go trick a trickster."

Loki sat upon Asgard's golden throne in his signature position, scepter in hand as he gazed down upon the great hall. He watched, disinterested, as an Asgardian foot soldier burst through the giant doors, out of breath as he exclaimed, "My King! The Midgardian Avengers and your brother, Thor, come toward the palace as we speak!"

Loki sighed, swallowing, and gazed back at the soldier in front of him, "Yes, I half expected this to happen."

"What do you want us to do, my liege?" The soldier asked, shaking in his boots, gazing around nervously. Loki simply sighed heavily, waving the Einherjar away with his hand, "Leave them be. I'd like to keep things as... _civil,_ as possible." With a curt nod, the Einherjar turned and walked briskly from the room.

It wasn't long after that that the Avengers, led by his brother, burst into the hall, Thor's loud voice echoing throughout the great hall, "Brother!" Thor spit the word like venom, nothing but anger present in his voice, brows furrowed as his grip on Mjolnir's handle tightened. Loki simply watched as the group thundered up toward the throne, stopping a few feet away. Loki simply smirked, "Brother?" He asked, voice laced with a fake innocence and sarcasm.

"What have you done, Loki?" Thor bellowed, gazing up at his younger brother in absolute fury, "Where is our father?!"

"YOU'RE FATHER!" Loki's voice rang out, before he inhaled deeply and pulled himself back into check, "And I have done nothing to him." Thor narrowed his eyes at Loki, "Then where is he, and why do you sit in his throne?" A smile crossed Loki's face as he leaned back even further in the throne, "That is the question, isn't it? I'm sure you are aware, it _is_ my birthright, after all. If I'm correct, you gave up yours for the pathetic mortal you fell in love with," He faked a gag, pointing his finger into his mouth to indicate his disgust, before laughing, "After all, you _really_ should have seen this coming."

Thor simply glared death at his younger brother, anger seeping from his very being, like an aura; Loki could almost _see_ it.

He laughed.

"Brother, we have come to take the throne back from you. You have betrayed us all yet again! You shall be so lucky if I do not kill you, Loki." Loki simply laughed in response to Thor's empty threat, "Haven't you done that already?" Thor growled in response, before Loki said in a condescending tone, "Are you sure all of those that accompany you are loyal to you alone?"

"What do you mean, trickster?" Thor asked, as he turned to gaze at his team.

It was then that Quicksilver stepped out away from the group, walking up towards Loki's throne, and stopping in front of the Frost Giant on Loki's right. He gazed up at the Jotunn, before turning back to the Avengers solemnly, "I'm sorry, my friends."

"How could you?" Steve hollered, a shocked look on his face, "After all we've done for you and your sister?" Quicksilver sighed sadly, before saying in a a quiet voice, "He...he brought me back from the dead for my sister. I owe him a greater debt than yours. I'm sorry..."

The Avengers stood in stunned silence before Thor said, "Is there anyone else that wants to leave?" He was met with silence, before Wanda pushed her way up from the back, anger evident on her pale face as she stormed to the front.

Her voice rang out next, filled with anger and venom, and Loki was taken aback, "How could you, you...LIAR!" She screamed at him as she went to approach the throne, but she was stopped by Thor and Captain America, who grabbed each of her arms to hold her still. She continued, "You lied to me! After everything we've..."Her voice trailed off, but picked back up again just as fast, "I should kill you! You lying, cheating, _heartless monster."_

Her words cut into Loki's heart like a cleaver, but he covered it quickly with a mask of uninterested humor, "Perhaps, it is because...I _am_ the monster children tell their parents about at night. I am the creature that suffocates you in the dark, the _thing_ that goes bump in the night."

Wanda regretted what she had said instantly, and it cut her almost as deep as it cut Loki, but her fury was still too hot for her to extinguish as she said, "Then listen here _monster,_ I challenge you to a duel, magic against magic. You win, I will stand down and join my brother at your side. I win, and you step down, give back the throne, and release my friends."

Loki smiled, standing slowly, the sound of his scepter connecting with the ground echoing throughout the large chamber. "Finally," He said, "Things begin to get interesting." He cracked his neck gently, straightening to his full height, and smiling his best charming smile, letting out a delighted giggle, "I give you one chance _mortal,_ to reconsider on your challenge."

"Never."

"As you wish then." Loki let go of his scepter, which stood on it's own in the spot he left it, his boots connecting with the stairs rhythmically as he descended them, to stand in front of Wanda. The rest of the Avengers stepped away, Thor calling out, "You should not do this, Witch of Scarlet; you cannot match my brother's abilities in magic. This is foolish." He warned.

She simply ignored him, steadying herself in a defensive position as she said, "Let's do this, trickster." Loki smiled a large smile as he positioned himself also, warning, "Take heed, Wanda, I shall not take it easy on you as I have in training."

"I am not afraid of _you."_

" _You should be."_ Loki whispered, as he said, "I _never_ cared about you, to think I could love a _pathetic_ mortal like you was foolishness. I shall destroy you without even a second thought." He attempted to break her, hoping his words would make her falter. And they did.

The Avengers watched in suspense as Loki and Wanda began their dual, exchanging blows of magic rhythmically. Steve turned to Thor as they watched, "She's getting exhausted."

"I know," Thor answered, "Loki has not yet unleashed his full power upon her. But he will end this soon."

And Thor was right, after a few moments of the exchange Loki inhaled, tired of this game. He focused all the energy in his body to his hands, and in a large expulsion of magic, he sent it barreling toward Wanda. "No!" She cried, as it hit her shield. She was knocked back slightly, but was not prepared for when her shield exploded, the sheer force of Loki's attack sending her flying backward. She let out a squeal of pain as her back connected with a pillar, and she fell to the floor on her stomach.

Loki gasped, but swallowed his regret and worry, retaining his air of disinterest and confidence. His voice was a lot colder than he wished it to be when he said, "I warned you, mortal."

He walked over to her, making a show of himself as he knelt beside her, seemingly insulting her as he whispered, "I should kill you now." He went to grip his dagger, but he could not force himself to do so. He sighed, defeated, saying, "I did not wish to do that, Wanda. And I meant nothing that I said." Regret was obvious in Loki's voice, "But you left me no choice."

"Go screw yourself." Was the only reply he received. He sighed, "I'm sorry, I shall explain everything at a later date. I hope you can forgive me. Allow me to help you up." He reached down, grabbing her by the arm and hauling her to her feet. All she did was push him away roughly with a hand to the chest, as she held her stomach with one had as she limped over to her brother. "A deal is a deal. I'm sorry, my friends."

"Do not worry," Loki stated, "She shall be given a place in Asgard, and a very long life indeed."

"This...is getting bad." Tony whispered, as they gazed back at Loki, who had once more ascended the steps to the throne, he did not however, sit down, but continued standing as he once more gripped his scepter in his hand. "Now that we've got all these petty things out of the way..." He straightened once more, his helmet weighing a little more heavily on his head that it used to, "I shall get rid of you all. You annoy me and stand in my way."

"If you can think you can stop us that easily, you're dreaming Loki!" Tony called out, his helmet closing over his face. Loki simply laughed.

"No, I think YOU are the one that is confused, Man of Iron. I shall demonstrate exactly what I said to Fury." He pointed to them, snickering, "Ant," then to his boot, "Boot. Just like I showed the Son of Cole."

"You son of a bitch!" Steve called out angrily at the mention of the terrible fate that had befallen Coulson. "You could never defeat us! The bad guys never win!"

"Oh really," Loki taunted, "I do believe that _I'm_ the one with an _actual_ army, and a kingdom, backing behind me."

"We still have a Hulk." Thor said, trying to keep himself from laughing at the memory of Loki's previous defeat by the Avengers...or more precisely by the Hulk. Suddenly Loki looked as if something had just dawned on him, his voice holding an air of lightness and humor that was rather irritating, "Oh yes, that does remind me. I apologize in advance, Banner. I rather like you."

"What?" Was the last thing they heard from Banner as Loki pulled a small dagger looking almost key looking object from his staff, pointing it an Banner's feet, and with a twist, a large portal opened up beneath Banner, and with a scream he was gone, vanished within whatever realm Loki had sent him. With another twist of the device the portal closed, and Loki returned it to it's secret pocket in the scepter.

"What have you done with him?!" Natasha screamed angrily, gazing frantically at the floor where Banner had stood but a moment ago. Loki shrugged, "I sent him back to Manhattan of course. He shall be the first to witness Doom's portal opening over Midgard."

"Loki, what have you done?" Thor asked, shaking his head sadly, "I...I though perhaps I could change you. WE could change you, save you from yourself. But I see now I was blinded by my love for you. I warn you brother, if I have to, this time...I WILL kill you."

"Now things are getting fun, aren't they?" Loki asked, laughing maniacally and Thor feared for his very sanity.

"Now guard yourself, villain!" Thor shouted, swinging Mjolnir and readying himself to fly to Loki's throne and take down his little brother. But Loki simply put a hand up, saying, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Thor." His voice held a rather taunting quality to it as he turned to the Frost Giant on his left, "Bring them in now."

With thundering footsteps, the giant disappeared, and in a few moments returned, dragging three people, heavily wrapped in chains. "NO!" Thor exclaimed, "My friends! I am so sorry."

Sif, Volstag, and Hogun were dropped before the Avengers, bound with chains and looking rather ragged, and Thor guessed they had come from the prison. The Frost Giant dropped them ungracefully on the floor in front of the throne, and it took them a few long moments to right themselves enough to be on their knees, gazing up at Thor.

Sif was the first to speak, "Don't do anything he says Thor."

"Where is Fandral?" Thor asked her, fearing the wort for his friend. Sif sighed, gazing up at Thor with tired eyes, "It's...not what you would think. He..."

"I'm over here." Fandral waved as he walked in unchained, going to stand next to the throne along with Quicksilver and Wanda, "I'm sorry Thor, my friends...But Loki offered me a deal I could not resist. Plus," He added, brushing his hair delicately back, "Does this face look like it belongs in prison?"

"Fandral how could you?" Thor chastised angrily, shaking his head at his friend. Fandral simply shrugged, looking rather apologetic, but continuing to brush his hair and gaze at his reflection in a pocket mirror. Thor shook his head and rolled his eyes at Fandral's weak consitution. "Loki I swear, if you hurt my friends, I-"

Loki cut off his brother's threat early, "Relax dear brother, I did not intend to do so. I was actually planning on threatening you. So hush, listen," Loki pointed in the direction of his familiar prisoners, "Here is my offer. You stand down and all of you come quietly, or I simply have these prisoners here, executed."

Thor sighed, turning to his companions, "I see no other choice right now, friends. We did not anticipate Loki to have the odds so heavily in his favor. And I cannot allow him to harm my friends."

The Avengers went silent for a long while, and Loki watched on as they discussed with themselves. He waited patiently for awhile, smiling as he watched their faces drain of what he assumed was hope. Finally, his plan was working.

"We...accept your gracious offer." Steve said, the words obviously forced, and laced heavily with sarcasm and anger. Loki smiled, nodding his head, as he said, "Good. I was hoping that you'd all make the smart...and safest...decision. I really was hoping to solve our little... _conflict..._ without violence."

Tony scoffed, "He is so fake it makes me want to vomit."

Loki waved at them, looking to the Frost Giants guarding his throne, "Release the prisoners to the Avengers. Then take them all to the prison." He began descending the stairs when Sif said, "I thought you agreed to release us!"

Loki laughed as he came to a stop in front of Wanda and Quicksilver, "I agreed to release you to them," he pointed at the Avengers, "And they, are going to the prison."

Sif growled angrily, as Loki turned from them to Wanda and Quicksilver. "Do me a favor, buddy?" Loki as Quicksilver, "Head down to the prison now and await their arrival?" Quicksilver nodded solemnly, mouthing an apology to his friends before he was gone in a flash. Then Loki turned to Wanda. "Now, I urge you to dawn the armor I gave you. You are in Asgard now, and you stand by my side." Wanda simply glared at him with malice, and Loki sighed, hating the pain it caused him to even see her react to him that way. Without her consent, he whispered a few words, and the armor materialized on her form, a perfect fit.

She simply snorted, crossing her arms and feeling a little strange at the heaviness of the armor, but surprised out how easy it was to move around in. It was then that Loki spoke to her in a hushed and hurried voice, "I have added my power to the armor, and you may call upon it as you wish, as often as you wish, but...there is a price you will pay."

"And what is that, prince of lies?"

"You'll become like me." It was in that second that Loki felt something move behind him, a wind on his hair, and then he heard the screams of multiple Avengers, and he watched Wanda's face contort in surprise and fear, and it was then that he whipped himself around just in time to see Sif's blade heading for his neck.

He threw his head backward, but he knew he did not have enough time to get his entire self out of the way. He winced as his head was flung to the side with the force of the blow. The entire room went silent, as Loki simply stayed in his position, either recovering or shocked none could tell. Then he turned back toward them, fury in his eyes.

Blood dripped from a cut on his cheek, which bleed not to badly, but enough that they watched it drip from his chin to the floor.

Sif was taken aback when Loki's hand flew out of nowhere, striking her backhandedly and sending her flying backward. Thor dove to catch her, as he looked up at Loki exclaiming, "She did not mean it Loki, just take us to the prison brother, I beg of you!"

Loki smirked. He was angry now. "No, I've changed my mind!" Loki demanded, turning away from Wanda to face the Avengers once more. "Take them to the prison but she," Loki pointed, "Dies tomorrow."

"NO!" Thor bellowed, and then he could hold back his rage no more. He flew at Loki like a jet, tackling his brother and sending them both to the floor. "Ah!" Loki exclaimed, hitting the floor with a thud. Thor raised his hammer, fully intending on smashing it into Loki's head. Loki brought up an arm, grabbing a hold of Thor's arm with both hands, holding the blow at bay as he shouted, "Get them! Get them you buffoons!"

It was then that the Frost Giants entered the mix, attacking the rest of the Avengers. "Oh crap, here comes the big guys!" Tony shouted, shooting one with a blaster, but the giant simply shrugged of the blow, continuing to barrel toward them club of ice in hand.

Wanda watched on in surprised.

Loki's knee came up to but Thor off of him, and Thor went tumbling over Loki's heading, landing on his head and rolling over to his back; landing heavily and a crack resounding when Mjolnir landing on the ground. Loki was up in a second, retrieving his scepter and aiming it at Thor.

In a moment a blast was released, and Thor rolled to the right a mere second before the blast connected to the spot on the floor where he had been a moment before.

"Loki! Stop this, it's madness!"

Loki was not listening as he sent another blast, which Thor deflected with his hammer, causing the blast to strike a nearby pillar. Loki gazed over his shoulder to see how his frost giants were doing. They had for the most part subdued the Avengers; and this pleased them.

But he was caught by surprise when Thor brought his hammer down toward him, and so he raised his scepter to deflect the crippling blow, the sheer force of their weapons connecting hurting his wrists. With a howl of rage, Loki lifted his leg, kicking Thor heavily in the abdomen, separating them, and giving himself time to retreat and gain some space.

"Enough of this!" Loki hollered, "Throw them in the prison! Now!"

It was then that a mix of Dark Elves, Jotunn's and the palace guard flooded into the room, grabbing hold of everyone, including Thor, who was kicking and screaming and throwing blows around. With a simple containment spell, Loki levitated Mjolnir from Thor, unable to lift it himself as he yelled, "Get them out of here, now!"

"BROTHAAA!" Was all that could be heard as they dragged them away.

* * *

Thor was thrown roughly into his cell, separated from the rest of his team; he landed roughly on the floor, scraping the side of his face as he came to a stop from the rough throw. He groaned as he pushed himself up off the floor, head throbbing, as he inhaled deeply, trying to stem some of his rage. "Loki how could you do this!" Thor yelled, frustrated, as he punched the stone floor angrily. "How could I let this happen?"

"Do not fret, Thor. You are not alone."

"Father!" Thor looked up at the voice, to see Odin, laying on the stone floor, covered in dirt and looking rather weak, but alive. "You're alive! I feared that Loki had done the worst." Odin shook his head answering, "No, I do not believe your brother capable of acts _that_ terrible. He has kept me alive...so far. I attempted to reach you once before? Do you remember? I had attempted to warn you..."

"The dream, then?" Thor asked, although he wasn't sure it was a dream. "So it's true then. Loki had taken your place long ago." Thor felt the need to tear up, but resisted, "How could I have been so blind to him!" Thor once again punched the stone floor in anger, and that was when Odin spoke once more. "Love blinds us all, Thor. It is not a weakness."

"Why did this have to happen father. I wish..." Thor sighed, "I wish that it could go back to before the coronation, go back to how it _used_ to be."

"I was a fool, my son. That is why things have changed. I was a terrible father. I sacrificed my duties as you and your brother's father to make me a better king. And I would go back and do it all again if time worked that way. But it does not."

"Do you regret taking Loki from Jotunheim?" Thor asked in a quiet voice as he settled down against the wall, head looking at the floor.

Odin sighed also, stating in his cracked voice, "No, I do not. I would take him again if I had the chance. I love him and he is my son. And I now see MY error, in Loki's ways."

"Father," Thor asked, "What happened? How did Loki get upon the throne? And why did you do nothing to stop it?"

With a deep sigh, Odin answered, "I shall tell you the truth, my son. After your mother died, and you ran off, I am reluctant to admit my mental state was not the best. I acted like a fool and I blamed myself for many things, including your brother's imprisonment. It was then that Loki, impersonating a guard, came to me and delivered the news of his death. It was then that I realized I was unfit for rule. A king must have mental clarity, which I could no longer achieve. I began to get weak, and for fear of falling into the Odin sleep at such an inopportune time, I told the guard I was not feeling well, to fetch me a healer. And he tricked me into confiding in him the fact that I felt unfit to rule. It was then that Loki revealed himself and his tricks, but by then it was already to late. I had already declared myself unfit for rule to my heir. It did not take much or Loki to imprison me here, and here I have sat, festering since. I have only seen Loki on a few rare occasions, when he's come to scream at me, or taunt me, or make sure I am fed and alive. He also made sure I could hear you when he tricked you into denouncing your birthright."

"I'm so sorry father. You had been right all along." Thor sighed, " I should not have given up my birthright."

"And that is why neither of us have the honest right to do anything against him. I declared myself, unknowingly or not, unfit for rule in the presence of one of my heirs. And you denounced your birthright...in the presence of your younger brother and competitive heir. If we were to do anything, we would be guilty of treason ourselves. And I could not deny that he promised me my wife, if I were to stand down."

"Loki thought long and far into this one." Thor stated, shaking his head. They were both silent for a long time. "We have both changed." Thor whispered, as he sighed, closing his eyes for a few moments, before reopening them. It was then that he noticed something strange. The white washed walls of the room were now covered in a rusty red, and Thor realized that it was dried blood. The same covered the floor, and the room, instead of being brightly lit as it should, was dim, with lights flickering on and off. "What in the nine realms?" He whispered, gazing over two where a guard should be standing at his post. Thor opened his mouth to call out, but stopped when he saw the state of the guard. The royal guard was collapsed in a heap on the floor, chin on his chest, a blade ran clean through his body, protruding from his armor in a ghastly way.

"What is happening?" Thor whispered, wondering what had happened to cause such changes so quickly. "Have I been sleeping, father?"

It was when he turned to his father that the shock truly set in. His father lay in the spot he had when Thor had last spoken to him, but instead of being in the state he remembered, his father lay withered. His skin was a nasty gray, the color drawn from it, stiff and brittle. His eyes were now clouded, a milky white, his mouth agape. His skin had withdrawn tightly, giving him an almost skeletal appearance, and it looked as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. He was obviously dead.

"Father!" Thor ran to him, reaching out hesitantly to touch the body. He withdrew his hand quickly when he felt the stiff, cold, brittleness of death. "How has this happened?"

A noise that sounded like dragging echoed throughout the prison, and Thor looked up and out into the hallway. "What is that?" The sound continued, and the longer it went the closer it became. A feeling of dread filled Thor's stomach, as the dragging sound finally came to a stop in front of him. "Lady Sif!" He exclaimed, running to the wall of his cell, placing a hand reluctantly on the magical barrier, eyes wide in horror. Lady Sif lay on the floor in front of his cell. She had obviously drug herself to his cell, for the state she was in would make walking all but impossible.

She had a wound on her neck so large that she was almost decapitated, and the flesh was ragged and bloody, and it surrounded her in a pool. The rest of her looked almost as bad. Her voice was ragged, dry, and cracked when she said, "Look what you've done to me...you are god of nothing...but...failure..."

"Lady Sif, what, what happened to you!" Thor exclaimed, watching all of this in horror. She answered, "You..." And Thor watched as she fell to the floor, dead.

* * *

Loki sat in his throne once again, a small ache present in his body from his recent fight, but he ignored it as he sat, staring off into the great hall, not focusing on anything at all really. He had sent Wanda and Quicksilver to the dining hall for a meal, to give himself some alone time.

Regret sped through his veins, and he felt almost sick to his stomach. He had not meant to hurt Wanda, of all people. And the look on Thor's face had cut him deeply too. But hearing the words, hearing them call him a monster, had driven the stake even deeper.

He missed his mother. She had always reassured him when he felt this way. But he could not recall ever feelings _this_ way. He was hurt beyond belief, but he continued to repeat in his head, that it was for the throne, for control of all the nine realms, for himself. He deserved it. He had to constantly remind himself of his original goal.

He wasn't sure if he wanted it anymore...

His mind traveled back to the beginning. He didn't even want the throne in the beginning. He just wanted to be noticed. But they _had_ noticed him... _Thor_ had noticed him...and most of all Wanda had noticed him. More than noticed him. And he betrayed them all. What had he done?

His mind once again drifted to the book. He could bring her back. He could get his precious mother back. But he knew he could not. He dared not even think of what she would think of him now...Maybe it wasn't too late to take it all back...

It was then that Wanda entered the throne room, walking up to the throne and stopping at the bottom of the steps. "We need to talk." Her voice was full of determination. Loki sighed, nodding his head in silent acknowledgment. "Speak then." His voice was dead.

"Tell me why? I loved you Loki...why would you do this to me, to our friends?" Wanda's vice was shaky as she spoke, and she fought to hold back tears. Loki simply watched her, face devoid of emotion, eyes dead.

"Past tense..." He whispered, before he said, "So you love me no longer then?"

Wanda was silent for a long time, before she ascended the steps slowly, tears in her eyes, before climbing onto Loki's lap, caressing his face. "Loki..." His name was a whisper in the air as her magic snaked round his head in long tendrils, before dissipating. "I love you still."

Loki finally turned to face her, placing a tender kiss on her soft lips. "I am glad...I do not know if I could handle you not loving me too..."

"I did not mean what I said to you, my God of Mischief. You are no monster." Her voice was soothing to him, and it helped dim the hurt that spiked in his chest. "I did not mean what I said unto you either...I'm sorry hurting you, my mortal goddess." She nodded, kissing him in an acceptance of his apology.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, burying his face in her chest. "I feel so terrible."

"Then make it right, Loki."

* * *

A squelching could be heard, footsteps in blood. Frigga came into view then, shaking her head when she saw the mess of blood, bodies, and destruction. Her face saddened still when she saw Thor's tearful face. "Look at this mess." She turned to Thor, her expression softening, "Calm yourself, my son."

By now, Thor's mental state had deteriorated significantly, and he was confused, stunned, and near tears. She walked over carefully to the barrier, placing her hand against it, where Thor's rested.

"How could I be calm! Look at all that is around me!" Thor's voice lashed out, angrily, as he shook his head, hoping that none of this was real. "How can things happen so fast! I merely closed my eyes!"

"They can't, Thor. That's it. It's not real." Her voice was calm and endearing, and it made Thor angry as he yelled, "Then neither are you! Leave me, bewitchment, my mother is dead!" Frigga looked hurt for a moment, before she sighed, and with a wave of her hand, everything Thor had seen and was seeing, disappeared, revealing to Thor the cell the way it had been, the horrors he had been seeing gone. But she stayed, rooted in front of him.

"So it was magic?"

"Yes."

"Then how are you here?" Thor asked, "You are magic, are you not?"

Frigga simply smiled, as her hand phased through the barrier, and touched his. And her skin was smooth, warm...and _real._


	12. Stand Down

The thoughts in Loki's head slowly wrapped themselves around what Wanda had said, taking it in as he considered her proposition. _'Make it right,'..._ he thought, gazing past Wanda and down at the ornate stone floor. He shook his head, before a new wave on anger and bitterness took hold of him.

He had _tried_ to make it right, multiple times before. _They_ had never excepted that that had been all he was trying to do; all he ever wanted to do. There was no way he could make it right again. And there was no way that he would give up what he had finally gained!

A jolt of excitement and joy spiked up through him, as he realized that his dreams, all the time spent biding his time and planning, and preparing, and lying...it had all come to fruition, and here he sat. In his father's throne, with all the nine realms at his very fingertips!

Wanda simply gazed at him with a confused expression as he sat there simply staring off into space. She wondered if he was alright as she tilted her head to look at him, gazing into his emerald green eyes, but receiving no response. He continued looking past her at the floor, and she sighed, watching his brow furrow. Wanda raised her hand slowly, carefully, and caressed his cheek, her slender fingers sliding easily across his porcelain-like skin, before turning his head toward her, effectively snapping him out of his stupor. Wanda giggled, before she smiled and simply nodded at him, placing a chaste kiss to his lips.

"Where were you?" She asked.

"Far...far...away." Was his cold answer.

"Mother..." Thor's voice was barely a whisper as the word left his mouth, watching as she slowly withdrew her hand from his, back outside the magical barrier, returning it to her side.  
"Son," Came her voice, smooth and comforting as silk; a sound Thor had missed far too much, and the sound of it struck up many memories of listening to her comforting voice in his childhood...and many of those memories were shared with Loki. Thor watched her in awe; albeit with a saddened face. There she crouched before him, in the dress and hairstyle she had worn most of often in the palace. Her face was the same as he remembered, soft and unmarred...one of the most beautiful in all of Asgard, even with her age.

"Was what I saw a dream?" Thor asked, gazing at her beautiful blue eyes, the eyes that were set into his own skull, as he listened to her response, her quiet voice filled with sadness as she replied, "No, it was not. Loki had cast spells upon this place. It was his magic that played with your mind..."

"What?" Thor gazed at the ground, closing his eyes and shaking his head, before looking back up at her, "Why would he-"

"He wished to break your mind. To incapacitate you...make you less of a threat." Frigga sighed, shaking her head. "He...is very far gone. I worry that I am too late." Her voice held a weight that put even him on edge.

"What do you mean?" Thor asked, "And how are you here? Was it Loki's doing?" His voice was quickly taking on an angry quality, but calmed as Frigga interrupted the beginnings of his rant, as she spoke, "I worry that I am to late too..." She sighed again, "I hoped that I could make it in time to stop this...this madness."

"But that doesn't answer my question!" Thor exclaimed, "Is your being here my brother's doing or not?"

Frigga shook her head at him, and for a moment he was confused. "What do you mean? Then how-"

Frigga interrupted him, her voice sharp but quiet, and Thor thought that maybe he heard a hint of humor in her voice as she said, "Loki is a sorcerer, Thor..."

"Yes I know that! But-"

"But you forget my son where he first acquired his talents."

Thor nodded in realization, but he decided to ask questions later. He had no idea how long he had been occupied by Loki's mind games, and he did not know how much time he had left to get them back to Manhattan in time to stop Doom. He spoke to her again, "Mother, can you assist me? I need to get me and my friends out of here. Loki has set into motion many terrible things." 

"I am aware," Frigga stated, as she stood up fully, doing something next to his containment cell, of which he could not see. In a moment, the magical barrier keeping him in the cell was gone, and Frigga crossed the space between them and embraced him in a hug.

"Oh, my son, I have missed you so."

"I've missed you too, mother." After a few moments of embracing, Frigga rocking him gently, they parted, and it was only then that a raspy voice piped up from the back of cell, barely audible, but impossible for her to miss, "My wife..."

Frigga turned immediately to the cell, moving past Thor and running toward her long lost husband. She dropped to her knees beside his lying form, as she stroked his aging face, and Thor listened as she whispered many endearing words, listening to the exchanges of 'I love yous' and the such.

"I've missed you so much, dear." Frigga's voice soothed his ailing body as he smiled up at her, reaching up to touch her cheek as he asked in a raspy voice, "Is it really you? How have you returned to us, my beautiful wife?"

"By my love for you all...That is all you need worry about my dear. I have come to assist. We must stop _our_ son..."

"I know." There was a long pause before Odin continued, "It is not the fault of Loki though...Tis' my fault for failing my duties to you all..." Odin looked at both of them, his tired gazed shifting from Thor to Frigga, and back again, "My family. I'm so sorry..." Frigga simply shook her head, grabbing his old withered hand in hers, stroking it gently before lifting it to her mouth and placing a gentle kiss upon it. "Tis' not your fault alone...Norns know you tried your best to serve both of your duties. You did what you thought was best. Don't be so hard on yourself, Odin."

Odin simply looked down beside himself at the floor, a grim look crossing over his face.

Thor watched this for a few moments longer before he spoke, "No." His voice was solemn and condemning as he continued, "If it was anyone's fault for Loki's current state...it is mine."

"Thor, no, you cannot-"

"No mother, Tis' the truth." He interrupted her, "I was his older brother. It was my duty to protect him, to help him...to be everything a big brother was supposed to be...and instead...I was nothing but an imposing shadow and a selfish, self centered, ignorant..." Thor's voice faded to silence, and he straightened up, inhaling deeply, "And now I have paid the price by losing my little brother." When Frigga and Odin both went to speak against him, Thor interrupted and continued speaking, "But I refuse to let my little brother pay for my mistakes. Because I may have been a terrible brother before, but I can make up for it now. We're going to go out there, and we're going to fix this."

A smile crossed Frigga's face slyly as she heard Thor's words, and for a moment Thor saw Loki, reflected in his mother's face, but he simply smiled slightly. At least he knew where his brother had gotten quite a few things. Thor had taken after Odin...and Loki...after their mother.

"Alright, Thor," Frigga said, "Let's go do this. But we can't go out there without a plan."

"I think I already have an idea of what we should do." Thor said confidently. "If what I think is true, then the true motivation behind all of this, whether Loki realizes it himself or not, is to gain attention."

"Attention?" Frigga asked, "Attention is the last thing Loki ever wanted, even as a child." 

"Not as much attention as recognition." Thor clarified, continuing his explanation, "It shouldn't be too hard to attempt to reason with him."

"Alright then," Frigga said, grabbing Odin by the shoulder and helping him to his feet gently, steadying him, "But we best hurry. If I'm correct, the execution has already begun."

The Avengers squinted as they were brought out in the daylight, and Steve stumbled in his chains as they were pulled by two large Frost Giants. The giants had mentioned that they were being taken to an execution, and the only execution Steve remembered hearing about was the woman...Thor's friend. Her shook his head as the name eluded him.

They all shuffled along as they were huddled in a line, standing in front of them a large wooden structure that reminded him of a stage. It was tall enough that everyone in the rather surprisingly large crowd could see without obstruction. He dreaded what was to come. Steve turned to look at the rest of his 'smaller than average' group. Natasha had been unnaturally silent since Bruce had disappeared, Tony had also been strangely silent, and then there was himself, and Clint who had been rather upbeat and had attempted several times to give the rest of them hope.

And then there were Thor's friends. The rather heavy set long bearded one, then the Asian looking one...but the woman was missing. And it was then that he spied her. Two Asgardian soldiers drug her up the platform, dropping her on her knees once she reached the top.

Steve heard them insult her several times before they took their places, each on one end of the platform, situated in a corner. Tony turned to Steve and asked, "What are they waiting for?"

Before Steve had a chance to answer, an Asgardian from the crowd, a tall, bearded man, whispered to him, "The King."

It was then that Steve knew who they awaited. And it was a few moments next, that they heard the footsteps. Two Jotunns walked beside the horned King, his golden uniform shining, scepter in hand, Wanda at his side in her silver uniform.

Quicksilver trailed behind them.

Loki ascended the steps to the platform slowly, and Steve rolled his eyes. Loki was vain, and he wished nothing more than to be noticed. He wanted to make this a show. Wanda followed Loki up the platform, but as Quicksilver began to ascend, Loki held up a hand, saying "Stay by the stairs. Assure no one gets up them."

Quicksilver nodded in understanding, situating himself at the bottom of the stairs. He didn't wish to see what was to happen. He could not understand how Wanda could bear to see it. He also could not understand how Wanda could bare to love Loki. It was obvious, he knew his sister well. He knew that she was deeply in love with Loki. He could not understand how or why, but he loved his sister and would accept it if only for her. But he knew should Loki hurt her, his debt to Loki would be all but pushed aside, replaced by vengeance.

Loki stood with head held high, looking out upon the crowd...this crowd...it was almost to good to be true. _His_ people. He ruled _them._ And they would be forced to accept him, to _kneel._ A wave of excitement coursed through him, and he cursed when it took a more, _inappropriate_ turn as he thought of Wanda kneeling before him.

He simply shook his head, gripping his scepter in his hand a little tighter. He cleared his throat, and the crowd fell silent. He fixed his gaze upon the Avengers, a snide smile crossing his face, mocking them. With a deep breath, he spoke, voice ringing out with pride, confidence, authority, and just a hint of mischief.

"This," Loki motioned to Sif, "Is a traitor. This warrior attempted to assassinate your King. And do Asgardians tolerate treason?" He asked them, and he watched as the crowd whispered amongst themselves for a few moments, and he smiled as half of the crowd screamed 'NO' and threw there fists into the air. The other half, which Loki assumed were still loyal to Odin and Thor, simply nodded their heads warily, afraid of what would happen to them if they disobeyed.

Loki continued after he basked in the reactions for a few moments, "No, we don't. And what do we do with traitors?" He asked, gazing out at the crowd with a smile on his face, he continued as he heard some of the people to cry out their answers, "We hang them."

It was only then that the gravity of Sif's situation actually set upon her, and she began to struggle, but was halted by one of the soldiers, who grabbed at her hair and placed a foot on her back to keep her in place, whispering an angry 'Down Traitor' in her ear.

Loki laughed out loud before he continued, "But, I am the new King. The Allfather no longer reigns here. And to assure my new rule as King, I shall show you all what will happen, should any of you attempt a threat on my life again."

"Where' s the rope?" Tony asked Steve, whispering in his ear. That is when it dawned on Steve. There _was_ no rope. There was no pole or rope or drop down floor...there was none of the necessary items present for a hanging. Steve turned to Tony, nearly frantic, "He's not going to hang her."

"What?"

"He's not going to hang her. There isn't even a rope present. He's going to do something worse." Steve said, gazing back up at the platform where Loki stood, egging on the crowd of Asgardians that were rallied around them. "Yeah, Loki's all about the presentation." Tony added, shaking his head. "We have to do something."

"Like what?" Steve asked, sighing, "They took our weapons. We're helpless and we're chained."

"I don't know. Thor better hurry up if he has some kind of plan or something."

Loki turned toward Sif now, motioning for the soldier to let her go. The soldier bowed to Loki, before backing away and taking his place at the edge of the platform. Loki approached her slowly, smiling his best charming smile as he crouched down to her, gazing into her eyes. She simply scowled at him. After a few moments he spoke, rather amused by the deep scowl on her face, and even more amused at what he knew was coming for her. "Hello, Lady Sif."

Sif did not answer, but simply glared at him, brow furrowed and lips taut. Loki continued unhindered, he could care less if she didn't answer, "I suppose you know what's about to happen you, don't you?" He paused for a few seconds, but rolled his eyes and continued when he still received nothing but silence. "Trying to kill me was very...bad...idea." He sighed, "I mean, do you have any idea how humiliating it was, you stupid wretch!" His voice took a nasty turn very quickly, and Sif flinched afraid he would strike her as he had before.

Her delicate lips still held a large split, which had scabbed, and a small bruise where he had backhanded her. But she did not allow the fear inside her show, she simply hardened her eyes and glared back at him, seemingly unfazed. She waited for him to continued. She knew he would. "I know you never liked me, Sif. Even after I confessed I had feelings for you, even after I had given you a courting gift...you still threw me away for my brother, Thor. Well, I'm about to throw _you_ away." He raised an arm, tapping her on the shoulder with her scepter, "Unless..." He reminded her of a snake, and his voice reminded her of the hissing that came before a strike, "You acknowledge, in front of all of Asgard, that I am your king, and pledge fealty to me."

Sif inhaled deep and slow, and she knew what would happen to her. She slowly excepted it, closing her eyes before she opened them slowly, and with a determined look on her face she spit, the gob of saliva landing directly in Loki's open green eye.

"Ah!" He wobbled in his crouch, but stopped himself from falling, furiously wiping at his right eye with his free hand. Sif smiled as she said simply, with venom in her voice, "I will _never_ bow to you. You are King of nothing but _lies._ "

Loki looked back up at her with a look of absolute fury in his eyes, and she could see the fire of rage lapping behind the green of his irises as he spat, "Fine! Away with you then, you wretched _bitch_!" He stood immediately, taking a few steps backward away from her, before turning to the guard and ordering, "Bring her to her feet so that I may finish this." He shook his head and mumbled, "I don't know why I even bothered trying to be nice, stupid fucking-" 

"Brother!"

The thundering voice brought Loki's head snapping up immediately. "NO!" He turned furiously toward the sound of the voice, to see his brother Thor standing valiantly at the steps to the platform, Quicksilver unconscious on the ground next to them. "How did you escape the prison!?" 

"I had some assistance." Thor said, as she ascended the steps slowly, only to have the two soldiers draw there spears and block his path. He raised a hand in defense, "Relax, I wish nothing but to offer a bargain."

Loki gazed at him incredulously, mind racing and trying to decide what course of action he should take. Thor continued, trying his best to convince his cautious little brother, "Surely the King of Asgard wishes to show that he is diplomatic as well? Not just a mindless warlord." Thor played on Loki's biggest weakness...his ego.

Loki cast his gaze to the ground, seriously considering what Thor had said. Surely if he seemed like nothing but an evil king his people would rebel. Perhaps it would be a good idea to show that he was capable of mercy and diplomacy too...

"Fine. Speak your piece, _brother."_ Loki's voice dripped with fury and malice. Thor nodded, taking a deep breath before he walked up the platform, pushing past the two soldiers to stand in front of Loki. He watched Loki's eyes widen, his body stiffen, and he watched as his little brother leaned back slightly, readying his scepter for an attack. But Thor simply dropped down to one knee, hand over his heart, kneeling before Loki.

Loki gazed downward at his older brother in awe and complete surprise. Before him knelt his highly esteemed older brother, the Mighty Thor...and he knelt before Loki, the new King of Asgard. A strange sense of a mixture of excitement, joy, and something warm and touching that Loki disliked coursed through him at the sight.

A smile smirk slowly crept across his face as he stood just a little bit taller, looking down upon Thor as he heard his older brother begin speaking again.

"My dear king," Thor began, and Loki almost laughed at the way he was addressed, "I humbly ask you to spare Sif's life..." When Loki began to say no, Thor interrupted once more, "In exchange for mine."

"What?" Loki was taken aback at Thor's brashness. Thor wished him to kill him instead of Sif?! Loki was outraged immediately. What was Sif to Thor anyway! A wave of jealousy and fury washed over him, but he swallowed it down like a good king should, and he inhaled deeply before answering, "Hm." He gazed between Thor and Sif, the cogs in his mind turning all the while. He smiled. He had a great plan.

"You know what, _brother,_ I think I will accept your offer." He gazed back at the crowd for a moment, before he turned away from Thor and to Sif, his scepter raising in his hand. Thor realized to late what Loki's intentions were.

With a swipe of his hand, and a scream from Sif the echoed throughout the courtyard and all through Asgard, something Thor wished he had not seen flew through the air, off the platform, and with a swipe of his hand upward, Loki impaled it with a spike of ice...right in front of the platform.

The crowd began shouting and screaming instantly, some were even cheering and chanting Loki's name. Thor hung his head, tears springing to his eyes. He had not been able to save his friends after all...and he had been so sure that Loki would be tempted to kill him...

"Loki!" Thor's voice was desperate as he spoke, "How could you! I thought you had agreed to-"

Loki interrupted Thor with a wave of his hand, voice laced with sarcasm, "Oh, I _did_ accept your offer. I just happened to find it much more gratifying to kill _both_ of you."

"What?!"

It was then that Thor was grabbed roughly by the collar, hauled to his feet as Loki drew his scepter backward, the point of the blade aimed over Thor's heart. "How do you think Asgard will react to the God of Mischief taking down 'The Mighty Thor'?!" And Loki lunged toward him with the blade.

Thor simply stayed silent, gazing up into familiar green eyes as he whispered, "I am sorry, Loki. For everything I've done to you. I was not a good older brother. And I wish nothing more that to change that, but I cannot. So I am sorry. I love you, Loki."

It was then that Loki faltered, his eyes widening as he took the words in, the scepter slipping from his fingers. He cursed loudly, calling the scepter back up toward his hands, and gripping it even tighter. His mouth opened and closed several times, but no words escaped. He swallowed hard, eyes shifting around nervously as his silver tongue failed him.

"WAIT!"

Loki turned to the familiar voice instantly, and his eyes widened even further as he screamed in fury. Odin stood on the platform behind Thor, looking extremely frail and old, but he held himself with the pride of an old king. His voice was soft as he spoke, "Loki, enough of this."

"You can't tell me what do to, remember! _I'm_ King, not you! I do what I want!" Loki's voice was filled with hate and fury, and it cut Odin deeply. But he continued unhindered by his son's resistance, his voice still soft and held no tones of anger, "Is this how you wish to be remembered my son? As the crazy king that no one loved?"

Loki stopped for a moment to consider his father's words, but shrugged then, "Who cares? When I control all the nine realms? And if I never die, I can't be remembered any certain way, can I?" He smirked, "Now, how did you get out of the prison! I thought I locked you away to rot!"

"I had assistance." 

"Why does everyone keep saying that!"

Thor smiled a little as he gazed out of the corner of his eye at his father. Loki reminded him of a pouty child. Thor silently thanked the Norns that his father had arrived when he had. He turned back to Loki whose face was contorted in rage, as he listened to the words his father said.

"Loki, please, see reason. This is not what you truly want." 

"And how would you know?!" Loki bellowed, "I believe it _is_ what I want! I want nothing more than to see all of you dead at my feet!"

"I believe none of that," Odin stated quietly, struggling to stay upright, "For I know why you do what you do...my son."

"I am no son of yours you frail, stupid, old man!" Loki's face was readily turning a shade of deep red, brows furrowed and lips drawn into a snarl of rage. Odin was unfazed by this however, and continued saying what it was he had come there to say.

"Yes Loki, you _are_ my son, and there is nothing you can say to change that. I was a terrible father, and I can see why you do not wish to be associated with me. I have blamed you for things that I should have blamed myself for. You have not failed me Loki, I have failed you. Now I beg you, my dear son, take my life instead of your brothers."

Loki sighed dramatically, extending his arms just as dramatically, before turning to the crowd of onlookers, then back to Odin, "Oh please! How sappy can this get!? First Thor, then YOU?! HA," Loki burst out into laughter as he said, "How priceless this becomes!"

Thor turned to Odin while Loki was distracted, "Where is mother?" Odin answered quickly, to avoid Loki's detection, "I had to trick her. Otherwise she would have followed."

Odin and Thor both felt bad, but there was nothing to be done. Loki interrupted them as he approached, voice laced with a type of humor, but there were also hints of anger and something that Thor could not place. "Alright, very well. I shall just kill you both!"

Thor's eyes widened as he stood quickly, but Loki was faster, drawing his scepter and Odin watched as they gem in the tip began to glow, and they both awaited the strike that was bound to come, mixed with Loki's laughter. But the blast never came. Instead all they heard was a scream from the trickster, and they looked on as Loki hit the platform, landing on his back, chest smoking from his own blast.

Odin and Thor were surprised to find Frigga, standing in front of them, a magical barrier dissipating from her hand, her dress billowing in the wind atop the platform.

Loki lay on the platform still, clutching his chest and whimpering, his scepter lay beside him. It took Loki a few moments to sit upright, grabbing his scepter and looking in fury to see who had humiliated him in such a way.

When he cast his gaze upon her, he froze. His eyes widened and immediately filled with tears.

"Mother..."

"Loki."

They stared at each other for a long while, before Loki got clumsily to his feet, endlessly disoriented and very confused. "Mother, why would you-"

"Because, this is madness."

"That hurt!" Loki exclaimed, gazing at her in hurt and confusion.

"Good. It's about time someone knocked some sense into you," Frigga said, smiling back at him with a mischievous glint in her eye. "You are acting crazy."

"But, but,-"

"But nothing! Loki, I should have done that a long time ago. You are my son, and I love you. But you will _not_ hurt your family." Frigga stood between Loki and Odin and Thor, arm raised toward her youngest son, ready to fight if she had too.

"You dare stand against me?!" Loki bellowed, "Mother get out of the way!" He screamed, and Frigga chuckled at him, saying, "Oh Loki, do not throw tantrums."

"What?!"

"Now!" It was then that the chains holding the Avengers fell apart, freeing them and Volstag and Hogun. Thor grabbed Odin and jumped from the platform, landing heavily in front of his friends, and Loki turned to them screeching, "NO! Do something! Do not let them escape!"

With a wave of her hand Frigga opened a portal behind them, and for a moment Thor glanced back to Frigga as the guards and the Jotunns closed in on them, but she shook her head and waved him off, mouthing, 'Just Go' as they disappeared through the portal.

"NO! NO, NO, NO, NO!" Loki screamed, before turning with rage upon Frigga. "How could you, mother! I was so close! Where did you even come from!"

"You of all people should know where I came from Loki. After all I taught you all you know. And as for how could I? You are my son Loki, and it is my duty to stop you when no one else can. If I did not what kind of Mother would I be?" Her voice was mocking, but understanding at the same time. She smiled sadly at him, "Oh Loki, what have you done?"

Loki attempted to swallow the big knot that resided in his throat, but found that he could not. He fought the tears in his eyes back hard. He would not allow them to spill over...not here...not now. "Mother," His voice was quiet, and held an almost pleading quality, "Stand down, and get out of my way!"


	13. And In His Outstretched Hand

Stand down and get out of my way." Loki's voice rang out in the complete silence that surrounded them all. It was suffocating and Loki found it increasingly hard to breathe; it held his throat in a vice, making swallowing difficult and talking all but impossible.

The look on his mother's caring face tore him apart inside, twisting and dropping in his gut like a block of cement, but at the same time he felt betrayed. He could not wrap his head around the fact that she had stopped him. She had defended them! He felt hurt beyond belief by it, the raw pain that he still held in his heart opened just a little bit more...but a small part of him understood why she had done what she had done...She was right...This _was_ madness. But Loki was unsure if he could even tell the difference anymore. It was in that moment that movement behind him caught hi attention. He turned toward it, and was surprised to see the space where Sif's body had lay, completely empty. He turned to the spike in front of him, and that was empty also.

He could smell that scent of magical dissipation in the air, and then he discovered her trickery. And he laughed. He laughed and he laughed and he laughed.

 _She_ had tricked _him_.

He knew immediately that Frigga had, at some point, replaced the real Sif with an illusion; and Loki knew not when she had put this plan into action. Where Loki should have felt fury, he felt a sort of happiness and elation he could not explain. And then Frigga was laughing too, and they both stood there and laughed with one another for a few long moments, eyes brimming with tears, and Loki assumed the crowd gathered must think they were crazy. And then the laughter died down, and they were left staring at one another, green eyes locked on blue.

Loki spoke first. "You tricked me."

"I did."

"Where have they gone?"

"Back to Manhattan."

Loki's brow furrowed in irritation and frustration. They would be in the way of his plan, and no doubt they would be a pain for Doctor Doom. But Loki had left himself with insurance. He held in the palace Mjolnir, floating in a containment spell, Captain America's shield, and the weapons of all the others. So even if they _had_ made it to Manhattan, they would be more than a little useless.

A smile crept across Loki's face as he answered, "It will be of no matter anyway. I still have their weapons; they are all but defenseless."

"That is where you are wrong, Loki." Frigga stated, gazing at him with a regretful look, "They have each other. And they have a _will_. Even defenseless, they are a force to be reckoned with."

Loki was silent for a long time, jaw clenching. He knew that she was correct; he remembered a time when he and Thor, and even Sif and the Warrior's three had been like that. But that was a long time past...and he could not deny that sometimes he wished he could rewind time and return to his blissful ignorance. But he knew that it was all but impossible. That it was all forever out of his reach.

He turned his attention back to Frigga, who still stood in a defensive position hand raised, palm toward him; he could feel her magic surging within her, and he repeated his words, with a tone of more authority, "Stand down and get out of my way _mother_. I wish not to hurt you."

"No." Was the simple answer he received. He went to speak but stopped when Frigga spoke again, "You can not deny my determination son; I have come back all the way from the _grave_ to stop your madness Loki."

Loki simply gazed at her expressionless, before he blinked, wiggled his jaw, and sighed. "I see I cannot sway you from your direction, Mother."

She shook her head, agreeing with him. "No you will not." She sighed, gazing at him with loving eyes, "Now Loki I beg of you, please stop this madness."

A last attempt at reasoning.

It did not work.

" _Never_ ," was the hissed reply.

Frigga closed her eyes, inhaling sharply, before she reopened them, gazing at Loki with a determination that almost scared him, "If I cannot stop you Loki..." She stopped a moment as her voice cracked and wavered, but when she spoke again it was with a confidence, "I will have no choice...but to destroy you. I acted as your mother. If anyone is to take you out of this world, it shall be me...your mother. But that is that last thing I want to do. So please Loki, I beg of you as your mother to please...see reason!"

Loki simply shook his head, his voice full of regret and sorrow, "It is _far_ too late for that."

"You fool." Was all Frigga could say, and Loki looked up from the ground as he heard the telltale sound of a weapon unsheathing; something Loki could not mistake. He did not wish it to be this way, but he could not..he...his train of thought was broken as he readied his scepter, and he spoke with a broken voice, "Please mother, don't..." He could not even finish his sentence as she shook her head at him.

"I'm sorry, Loki. I love you."

" _I love you too_."

It was in a second she was upon him, and he was unprepared for her swiftness. She was on him in a but a blink of his eye, her blade descending on him so fast that he had no time to lock her attack. Instead he flung his body to the right, rolling delicately, careful to avoid the edge of the platform. He knew that he had to be just as fast, if not faster, if he were to have any chance at victory. He lurched forward, twisting and attempting to get behind her. But she had foreseen what he was planning. She spun around, and slashed at him from the side, her body twisting with the blow gracefully, but with a move of his arm he blocked her sword with his scepter, the strike sending vibrations up through his body, causing his wrists to ache as he took a few steps backward, hissing from the unexpected pain.

" _Please_ Loki, change your mind!" Frigga pleaded as she headed toward him, she swung downward over his head, and he raised the scepter to intercept her attack, holding her blade suspended inches from his helmet, he struggled to push her back.

He knew that a kick to her stomach would push her off of him, but he could not bring himself to attack her. He answered her, voice labored, "I cannot!" As he finally moved, going for a light kick to her stomach as he realized that he had no other choice.

His kick missed however as she moved away from him, avoiding his kick and with a twist of her body, readjusting herself to face him. He lowered the scepter once more, before he hardened himself and released an energy ball from the scepter toward her.

Loki watched almost horrified as it struck her, and her body was flung backward onto the platform. But as soon as it struck he watched the body dissipate as the magic was released. His eyes widened as he realized her trick, and he attempted to twist himself around to face where he _knew_ she would be, but he was too slow.

He felt the blade strike his back, a hard pressure at first, and he felt it cut through the armor just slightly, and the tip of the blade made a shallow cut across his middle back as he fell forward. He emitted a cry of pain as he instinctively clutched at his back, but then rolled forward over himself, grabbing his scepter as he stood back up, facing her in a crouched position.

He saw Frigga's face, which was covered in tears as she asked, "Please son, stop this. Only _you_ can."

Loki ignored her, and instead lunged angrily at her, swinging the bladed edge of the scepter at her. Frigga sidestepped the swing gracefully, bringing her own blade upwards, striking Loki in the arm, but his the armor plating covering his forearms protected him as he stumbled backward toward the edge of the platform. In a swift motion, she moved her fingers, and a blast of golden magic hit him in the chest.

Loki was immediately winded, and the pain in his chest exploded within him, causing his vision to blur as he felt himself being thrown backward.

He felt the falling, and when the impact came, it hit hard, his helmet bouncing off of the hard ground, causing such a ringing in his head that he could not hear, whatever little oxygen was left inside of him forced away, and a pain erupting in his back as he landed. Frigga was immediately at the edge of the platform, gazing worriedly at her youngest son. Loki made no attempts to stand. He simply lay where he had landed, eyes blank and staring up at the darkening sky, face red from lack of oxygen as his chest and stomach jerked continuously as his body tried in vain to replace the oxygen that had been taken.

After a few moments the oxygen began seeping back into his burning lungs, and he took several deep breaths, unprepared and unused to such pain; before his eyes followed Frigga, who descended the steps of the platform, and knelt beside him gently, gazing at him with tears running down her face, a sorrowful look on her face, but the same amount of determination behind her aqua eyes. It was then and only then that she began to speak once more, her voice soft as she caressed Loki's cheek lovingly; but Loki raised his own hand, and pressed a finger to her lips to silence her.

It was then that Wanda finally broke away from the crowd, running over and dropping beside Loki, grabbing his arm and begging him, "Loki please, listen to your mother, this is crazy. I'll do anything! I'll stay with you in Asgard, I'll give you heirs...I just...I don't want to lose you."

There was a long silence before Loki answered, "But how can I? Look at all I've already done."

Frigga looked at Wanda, and Wanda looked at Frigga, and they both smiled, Frigga speaking, "In a few hours nothing will be left of Manhattan, you've assured it. And after that, who knows...they might just decide to come for Asgard and the other realms as well."

Loki nodded in understanding, brows knitted and lips pursed as he inhaled deeply.

"You've already got so much control over the nine realms..." Wanda said, before Frigga picked up her sentence. "Let's get to Manhattan...and make this right. _Together."_

* * *

"We have to hurry and get to the tower!" Steve yelled as they continued their run toward Avengers tower, looming in the distance in front of them. "I think we might have some spare weapons there!"

The Avengers had realized to late that their weapons had been left behind in Asgard. Steve had a small hope that they had some sort of weapons stored away in the tower just in case, but none of them were sure, and Tony had already state multiple times how fucked they were. Sif, Volstag and Hogun scurried along with the Avengers, save Wanda and Quicksilver, and Thor hurried behind them, damn near carrying Odin along with him.

The portal had dropped them a few blocks away from the tower, and they were all eternally grateful to the previous Queen of Asgard. If not for her they may have never made it back to Manhattan. That alone had distilled a small amount of hope within them all, which didn't do much considering once they had arrived they realized they were defenseless.

As they ran a deafening sound reverberated across Manhattan, echoing and roaring and sounding like something from a horror movie, and a few of the Avengers stumbled, glancing up at the sky with large eyes. A large blue-green ray went from a building near Times Square to the sky, and as they continued running even faster, they watched as the sky began shifting colors, changing from the evening sky with laces of red to a darker, more demented version of itself; a darkened sky with red mixed in, and soon it would be dark as nighttime approached. The sky began to twist, and the clouds were pulled along with it, into a funnel that reminded him of the incident beforehand. He knew what was coming. A portal to another realm.

"We have to hurry!" Came Natasha's desperate voice, as the pushed their way in the front door, then she turned her head to Tony as they jogged up the stairs, "You never built the counter device, did you?"

"When did I have the chance?!" He responded, rolling his eyes and getting rather winded by their pace as they entered into the main room, "I mean, _come_ on! All the bullshit that's happened in the last three days? I'm lucky I'm still _standing_!"

"Then I guess we're going to have to wing it."

Natasha turned to the voice immediately, launching herself into his arms and kissing him hard, before pulling away and smiling, "Glad to have you back," Before she whacked him on the arm and ran past to search for the extra weapon. Bruce stood there stunned, before Tony turned to him laughing and saying, "Wow, for once you're getting more action than _I_ am!" And then Stark turned from Bruce, walking over to the heavily damaged bar and pouring himself a drink.

Bruce frowned, "Are you _kidding_?"

"What?" Tony asked, "I've had a hard couple days...so I'm fixing them with hard _liquor."_

Bruce simply shook his head, turning away from Tony and back to the others who stood gathered around shifting nervously. Bruce piped up once again, "I had some time to myself while you guys were stuck in _LokiLand_ , so I notified the police of the situation. They've begun evacuation and have set up perimeters. I thought it would help when... _if_...you guys ever arrived."

"Good thinking Banner," Steve praised, turning as Natasha entered the room with a literal handful of things. Clint was immediately handed a bow and quiver, Steve made a note that Widow carried her own weapons already, and she handed out numerous weapons to the rest of them. Volstag and Hogun both held swords, Thor held a large mace that was used in training when Mjolnir would otherwise be too powerful, and once they were all armed, a noise from behind the bar startled them.

The literal wall of the bar lifted up, to reveal an extra iron man suit. Tony equipped it immediately, saying with good humor, "What? You thought I wouldn't make an extra? What do you take me for?"

Thor helped Odin onto on overturned sofa, "Father, stay here. We shall take care of this, I promise."

"I trust you my son. Go save Midgard...you have _always_ proved yourself trustworthy."

It was then that Steve, armed with his armor, an assault rifle, and a shield made of steel, spoke to them, his voice commanding and rallying as he said, "Alright!" He gazed around at the Avengers, who mostly looked tired and squashed down, "I know we've been through a lot the last couple days, and I know we're exhausted and down in the dumps, but we can _do_ this. We're gonna _stop_ Doctor Doom, we're gonna _close_ that portal, then we're gonna _save_ the world, like we're meant to do."

"And then shawarma, right?" Tony piped up from the back, a smirk on his face as he gazed at them. The rest of the Avengers simply shook their heads and a few chuckled as Tony closed his faceplate, starting up his repulsors and saying, "Let's go stop some impending _Doom_." And with that Tony was off, flying out the broken window and disappearing off into the darkening sky.

Steve turned to Natasha and Clint, "Okay, you two," he motioned to both of them, "I need _you_ up on the rooftops. Clint, you'll cover us, you'll be like supporting fire." He turned to Natasha, "I need _you_ up on the rooftops too, but I want you to make your way over to where the portal gun is firing from." Steve then turned to Thor, Volstag, Hogun, and Sif, " _You_ four are gonna be ground defense, since Thor you can't really fly anymoe. So I want you all on citizen patrol and defending from the ground. I'll be down there with you. Our first priority is taking down that portal gun. So that's where we'll be making our way. As for Tony, he'll be our air coverage and our eyes in the sky. And Bruce...you know what you have to do. You got all that?"

There were many nods, as they all disbanded to their jobs, Bruce bursting into the Hulk with a scream, and jumping out the window bellowing ' _Hulk_ _Smash_ '. Once they had all gone, Odin sat simply were Thor had left him, eyes cast to the ground, to weak to stand. He prayed to God that they succeeded. And he also prayed that his wife had succeeded also...Norns knew that the Avengers were doomed otherwise...

* * *

Things looked very different from Tony's point of view in the air. The sky was now dark, the stars dotting the sky and the moon out in full, a eery orange shadow cast over it. The swirl in the sky was the only thing remotely bright besides the city lights, and it was lit up with a sickly green, the funnel open wide now, and Tony could see what he recognized as Chitauri on the other side of the portal, along with something else further away that he could not recognize. "Jarvis," Tony asked, "Turn on my comm-link."

"Already done."

"Well guys," Tony started as his comm-link connected with that of the rest of the Avengers, "It doesn't look to good from up here."

Natasha's voice rang out on the other end, "Do you have a visual on Doom yet? We're running blind up here."

Tony was quiet for a few minutes as he flew along, following the direction of the green, and then he spotted it. Doom was situated atop a large building near Times Square, his green coat billowing in the night air as he stood beside his large gun looking weapon, watching as it fired into the sky. "Second building on the west side of the square," Tony told her as her turned his body and flew in a different direction, back toward their group. He could see Thor, his friends, and Steve on the ground, heading in the direction Tony had specified, and he could also see Natasha and Clint, parkouring across the rooftops toward the specific location also. The only one he didn't see was Banner, who was a loose cannon anyway.

Tony heard a large sound that sounded like an earthquake, and he looked up at the portal in the sky to see a sight that he really didn't want to see. The Chitauri began to emerge from the portal, a leviathan at the head of it; a slow moving force that brought with it dread and a sense of hopelessness. He hadn't seen a leviathan since last time and his stomach twisted in a knot as he saw them enter their airspace, flashbacks from the hallucination Wanda had given him in the past flashing before his eyes as he said in a rather hushed tone, "Here they come guys," Tony said, "Get ready."

The sound of the leviathan was blood curdling as it let out its roar, and the sound of the Chitauri's flying ships roared as they sped down to streets. Tony had to veer right hard at an angle to avoid one of them, as he did a spiral to avoid the blue balls of energy they shot at him repeatedly. "Alright," He said to no one in particular, "Let's _do_ this."

* * *

Meanwhile on the ground, Thor and his companions along with Captain America ran along the streets, jumping over cars that lay parked when the evacuation had begun. A Chitauri flyer went by overhead, and Thor stumbled as it shot at his feet. The Chitauri began to jump from their ships, landing heavily on the ground with the guns that were familiar to Thor and Steve. Thor turned to hir friends shouting, "They carry energy guns! _Be_ wary! Take them down quickly!"

And then the fighting began. Thor took the steel mace he held in his hand and swung it at the head of a Chitauri, it struck, but without the proper balance, and Thor winced as the power of the blow was greatly reduced. Thor disliked it heavily, it was nothing like his precious Mjolnir, but he had no other choice. He delivered a swift kick to the large alien being, knocking it to the ground and dropping the mace on it's head. He heard it's head crack and instantly the creature stopped moving. Another one was on him in a second, and he swung his mace upwards, connecting it in the jaw with force and sending the creature flying backward and over a parked sedan. He turned to see how his friends were managing, but by what he could see it was not as well as it should have been.

Volstag was valiantly fighting two different Chitauri, switching between the two and becoming increasingly overwhelmed, Hogun had jumped in to assist Volstag, jumping from the roof of a nearby van and stabbing one of the aliens with his sword, effectively killing it as he pulled the sword from it's head.

Sif was handling three of them along with Captain America, and they seemed to be faring decently well. Sif was striking with the sword she had been given, and Captain America sat crouched behind a vehicle shooting at the three large Chitauri. Thor ran over to assist Sif first, using his hammer to knock down another one from behind, and Sif finished it by stomping it's face with her boot heavily. Sif then turned to the remaining alien, jumping onto it's shoulders, and Thor watched as it stumbled and Sif drove her blade down the neck and into the chest, dropping to the ground and struggling for a moment to pull it free.

Once Thor was sure that he had helped his friends beat back their opponents for the moment, he turned to his companions. "Hurry! We need to move to Time Square!"

"Alright, this area looks clear for now! Let's move!" Captain America agreed, motioning with his hand for them to follow. He jumped the hood of a car as he turned down an alley, "Shortcut!" The others followed, with Thor continually looking behind them to assure they weren't being followed.

* * *

Natasha jumped across another gap to get to the next building, landing on the graveled roof with an 'oof', and taking off once more, struggling to keep up with Hawkeye as he drew another arrow from his quiver, aiming and letting one loose, and she watched it strike another flyer, and it ran straight into a building with a large explosion.

She turned back toward Clint, as she hurdled over a ventilation opening. They jumped another building, and she rolled her body as she connected with her destination, and she felt her leg muscles burn as she continued her run. Just then she heard the telltale moan of a leviathan, and she heard Hawkeye yell, "Duck! _Natasha_!"

She looked up just in time to see the Leviathan hurtling toward them at a pace that was far to fast to outrun. She dropped to her knees immediately, landing flat on her back as the monster past over her, it's sickening skin inches from her face, so close she could _smell_ the strange scent coming off of it. Several Chitauri jumped from the monster as it finally past by, and hey landed heavily on the rooftop. Within moments Hawkeye was stringing his bow once more, and Natasha watched as he struck out the eye with an arrow, that within seconds exploded, taking another out by throwing it off the rooftop.

Natasha prepared herself as another of the aliens ran at her, shrieking something that she was unable to understand.

She pulled out her handgun, and shot it repeatedly in the chest cavity, to the right. She had learned last time that on a particular point of the armor near the chest they were vulnerable. However her shots did not faze this one, and it continued barreling toward her. She ducked underneath the Chitauri, and as the monster turned around she shocked it repeatedly with her tazers, and while the thing was disoriented, she kicked it hard, sending the alien flailing off the edge of the rooftop.

Hawkeye embedded another arrow in the chest of the last Chitauri, and it fell to it's knees heavily, dropping it's weapon as it landed face first on the gravel rooftop. He glanced back over to Natasha as he asked, "How you holding up?"

She nodded at him, "Fine, let's keep going."

Hawkeye simply smiled as they took off again, heading towards the Square themselves.

* * *

Tony watched the battling from his viewpoint in the sky, and he had seen Clint and Natasha's close call with the leviathan that happened to be flying around. Tony dodged left as he narrowly avoided another speeder, and he watched it crash to the ground as he hit it's 'engine' with a repulsor strike. He kept a close eye on time square and he could keep a close eye on Doom. Doom remained near his weapon, surrounded by what looked like Venom, Doc Oc, and the Green Goblin. He phoned it immediately, "Hey guys, I just caught a glimpse at the building, we got four different uglies up there."

" _Who_?" Was the reply he received from Steve, who's breathing sounded considerably labored. Tony replied accordingly, "Venom, Green Goblin, and what looks like Doc Oc."

"You're kidding." Was Steve's reply. Tony laughed, before answering, "I wish buddy, I wish."

" _Fuck_!"

" _Steve_! Watch your language!"

"Don't start Tony."

Tony simply laughed, speeding up his flying speed by a few fractions of a second. He circled around, as he said, "We might have to call in a little, special help."

"You mean Spider-Man?" Natasha asked, and Tony replied quickly, as he spiraled to avoid the blasts of energy coming his way, "Yeah. He'll know how to handle Greenie and Octupi."

"Call him in." Steve said, it sounded more like an order than an agreement. "Fine," was his uninterested reply. He turned and veered down an alley, passing right overhead of Thor and the ground team, as he turned and went straight up the side of the building, passing Natasha and Clint. "Jarvis, get me Spider-Man." The ringing in his helmet went for on for several seconds before he heard a click on the other line, and then he heard his voice.

"Hello?" Was the tired answer. Tony was quick to reply, "Hey, Spidey, the Avengers need your assistance. Where are you?"

"I was helping with the evacuation. I'm near the bridge closest to you. What do you need?"

"Doc Oc, Green Goblin, I think you know where this is headed. We've... _Oop_!" He dodged another speeder, shooting it out of the sky with a rocket as he veered left along another avenue, "We've had a rather strange couple days. We could use the help if you can give it."

There was a rather unsettling silence on the other line, before Spider-Man spoke up, "Sure. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Jarvis ended the call as soon as Spider-Man hung up; then he reconnected Tony with his comm-link. "Spider-Man's on his way. He said he'll be here soon. Apparently he was helping with evac."

"Got it." Was the only reply he received as he looked down to see Steve and Thor and the others, who apparently had come to an impasse and were now surrounded by about seven different Chitauri.

Thor charged first, dodging the alien's first strike, and counter striking with his own, the hammer connecting with the monster's shoulder, and you could hear whatever the monster consisted of snapping under the blow, and with a hard fist, Thor punched the monster hard in the face, sending it hurtling to the send. He stomped on it's head to ensure that it would not get up again.

Steve had long since run out of ammo, and had resorted to using his fists and makeshift shield. However, that shield he could not throw, and it could not withstand half the damage that his original could. Thor watched as Steve bashed a large Chitauri in the head with the steel shield, disorienting it just enough to kick it in the face, sending it to the ground where he had the opportunity to smash it's head.

Sif, Hogun, and Volstag were working together in tandem now, and they easily took down about three of them on their own. At least they weren't doing too terribly...

* * *

Spider-Man swung with a sense of urgency that he didn't usually have. He was tired, and his muscles ached, but he Avengers had needed his help, so he had to say yes. He had been up since early that morning, and immediately after school he had assisted with the evacuation of all Manhattan. At first no one would tell him why, but finally, after a considerable amount of digging, he had gotten Maria Hill to tell him what was going on. And the large funnel in the sky with monsters flying out of it was a pretty big indicator.

He tightened his core muscles as he made another swing, and that was when he finally found them. He spied Natasha and Clint first; they were parkouring across the rooftops, and he guessed they were heading towards the large weapon that was sustaining the portal. Thor, Steve, and three he did not recognize but assumed where Asgardian were down on the streets, keeping pretty close to the speed of the rooftop team.

There were numerous monsters, in the air and on the ground, and it as kind of hard for him to miss the giant leviathan that was flying around the city. It was then that he spotted Iron Man, who flew dangerously close to him as he sped by, dropping a small device that Spidey caught with one had as he transitioned into his next swing. He identified it as a comm-link, and he adjusted it to his mask accordingly. He listened as it switched on, and he heard Stark's voice stream over it seamlessly, with only minimal background noise.

"Hey there, Spider-Man. Thanks for joining the party."

"No problem. Tell me where you want me." Spider-Man jumped forward, connecting with a building as staying suspended, as he awaited a reply, able to see most of what was going on from his spot on the side of the tall building. It took a few moments, but Steve finally spoke, voice winded, and Spider-Man could hear, and see, the fighting going on below him, as Steve knocked back another Chitauri, "Alright Spidey, we're on our way to the portal gun. That's where we'll need you the most, with Doc Oc and Green Goblin and all. But for now, since you have great mobility, try and jump between us as we need it... _that'd_ be great, thanks."

Spider-Man sighed, he knew that helping the Avengers would not be easy. In fact, if he remembered correctly, he had been part of the Avengers at one point...up until Loki stole his body and tried to take over Manhattan...

He launched himself off the wall, and fell as he went down toward the street. He arrived just in time to shoot web into the eyes of one of the aliens, effectively stopping it from bringing a blade down upon the fat one's head.

The fat man then raised the blade and decapitated the monster, before turning to Spidey and thanking him, saying, "Thanks for the help. I assume _you_ are the man of spiders? I am Volstag, of the Warrior's Three, friend of Thor."

"Hey." Spider-Man simply waved at him, before he looked to the other side, where Sif and Hogun were finishing off just a few more, "Good introductions and stuff but, I think we should hurry up and finish this, before all of Manhattan is overrun."

"Good idea."

They once again took off down the street, and Spider-Man could only imagine how tiring it must be to have to run all of that distance when all he did was swing on a web...which was rather fun by the way. Just then a flyer came up behind him, taking and and shooting the energy blasts in his direction. He changed the direction of his swinging to avoid the first burst of blasts, as one of Hawkeye's arrows embedded into the Chitauri's skull, sending both the monster and the flyer down to the street below. "Watch out!" He called to the others below, and he watched as they scrambled to avoid the crashing flyer.

Thankfully they all avoided it, albeit with some difficulty, and Spider-Man nodded his thanks to Clint, who simply nodded back, running off again and picking off flyers as he went. Spider-Man was rather excited to be working with the greatest heroes ever...and he couldn't deny how awesome they were.

"There it is," called Thor, as they entered Times Square, "Up there!" He pointed toward the large building to their slight left, near the large display screens. They took off toward the building, but were stopped by Steve. " _Wait!_ " He called out, "We can't rush into a rooftop full of hostiles without some sort of strategy. I mean, we don't even have our _weapons_...well except Tony. And Spidey."

"What about Spidey?" Spider-Man asked, landing next to the group.

"We're discussing strategy," Thor stated, turning back to Steve. Steve looked around, taking in the situation around him, before he answered, "We are surely outnumbered, and we will have no chance at winning this battle. But we _may_ have a chance to shut down the weapon before we are defeated."

Tony's voice sounded as he landed next to them as well, "So what your saying is, we're walking into a deathtrap, and we're all gong to die. But there is a small, very slim, possibility that we can shut down the portal before it creates further damage."

"Something close to that, yes." Steve confirmed.

"Whoa, whoa," Spider-Man started, "I don't want to die. And _you_ guys shouldn't either. Where is all your hope and optimism?"

"I'm just trying to be realistic here," was Steve's grim reply. "Alright guys, let's get this finished quickly. There's gotta be more leviathans heading for the portal." And it was then that they headed for the fire escape leading to the roof of the building, Steve in the lead. Spider-Man was content to just scale up the side of the building, keeping the pace with rest of them as they jogged at a steady pace up the fire escape. Tony was simply raising himself up in the air with his repulsors as he said, "Oh geez guys, I think I might break a sweat."

He received snorts in response as he said, "God, I hope we're ready for this..."

Steve was the first to enter the rooftop, with Thor and his companions right behind, followed by Spider-Man who flipped up over the edge of the roof, and then Iron Man, who stayed suspended in the air. All eyes were upon them immediately.

Doom's voice was the first to ring out toward them, " _Ah_ , and here come the Avengers. A little to late to the party I'm afraid..." His voice trailed off as he moved away from his portal device and toward them, "And what's _this_?" He gestured to the Steve, Thor and his companions, "You're not even properly armed." His voice was taunting and it grated on Tony's nerves, but he stayed silent, keeping his rockets out and at the ready.

Doom continued his speech, "You must have a _death wish_ , Avengers."

"I don't remember the Spider-Brat being in the Avengers," came Goblin's screeching voice as he hovered above them. Spider-Man simply snorted, "I was! Once...awhile ago..."

He received a bunch of screeching laughter from the Green Goblin, and a chuckle or two from Doc Oc. Spider-Man simply rubbed the back of his head, shaking it and rolling his eyes; not that anyone could see them anyway. It was Steve who piped up in their defense first, voice full of determination and authority, "We may be less armed than usual, and we may be walking to our death, but we _will_ close that portal, and we _will_ stop you from whatever evil your planning."

"I'm planning?" Doctor Doom laughed loudly, "This was no plan of mine. I simply lent my talents and shall soon reap the rewards."

"What do you speak of, Doctor of Doom?" Thor demanded, pushing past Steve to stand in the front of them, face to face with Doom, who he towered over. Doom simply looked up at the large Asgardian, chuckling as he answered, "You of all people should know who's plan this is, _God of Thunder._ "

" _Loki_..."

"Correct!" Doom took a few steps back to rejoin his companions as Thor turned to the Avengers, whispering, "This was part of Loki's plan _all_ along."

Steve laid a hand on Thor's shoulder, nodding at him, "Don't worry about it Thor. There's nothing we can do now. I promise," Steve lowered his eyes to the ground, unable to meet the Thunder God's gaze, "If we make it out of this, we'll take care of Loki... _together_."

"Yeah, together!" Tony added, before preparing himself.

" _Let's end this now._ " Thor said, sending Captain America a smile as he gripped his weapon in his hand just a little bit tighter. Doctor Doom simply retreated, being replaced by Venom, Doc Oc, and Goblin, who hovered overhead. Steve lowered his voice considerably, so that only those with a comm-link would hear as he said, "Spidey, I need you to take Doc Oc. Tony, you handle Green Goblin. We'll handle Venom and Doom." He turned his gaze out of the corner of his eye toward Clint and Natasha, who were situated on a building across the alley from them, in a sniping position. "And you guys know what to do. Let's end this quickly."

And then it was chaos. The fighting began almost immediately, and there was no time for reformation or rethinking. Goblin took of immediately on his board, and Tony was immediately behind him, almost instantly out of view. Venom jumped Thor, who struggled to keep the snapping jaws and long tongue away from his face. Spider-Man had antagonized Doom into following him to a different building; he hoped that it would help the Avengers if he kept Doc Oc and himself out of the way.

Thor was on the ground with venom on top of him, and the hideous creatures jaws snapped repeatedly in his face, and try as he might, without Mjolnir Thor had significant difficulty in removing the monster from him; but Steve was assisting him immediately, kicking Venom in the side and sending it falling to the left, giving Thor mere moments to get back up. He nodded at Captain America before turning his attention back to venom yelling, "Go get Doom, Captain, my companions and I will take care of the slimy back creature."

"Okay. Be careful," And with that Captain America was off across the rooftop, and on Doom. Although he wasn't sure that fighting Doctor Doom by himself was a good idea, he didn't really see any alternative. He dodged a Doom through an arc of electricity his way. "Whoa! Oh, this is gonna _suck_."

* * *

Tony was right behind Green Goblin, he could see his hovercraft in front of him as he pushed his repulsors to the max, increasing his speed substantially. "Just give it up _Goblin_ ," He called, "I'll catch you sooner or later!" It was then that he saw one of the pumpkin bombs flying back toward him, and he had seconds to veer away before it exploded in the air, unintentionally taking down a Chitauri flyer on it's way. Tony scoffed, smirking, as he redirected his course. If he couldn't catch him from behind, he'd simply have to catch him from the front. He turned and sped down an alleyway, keeping as low as possible. Green Goblin rounded the corner quickly, and Tony waited for just the precise moment before he went straight up, hitting the hovercraft from below, striking it with not only a strike from his repulsor, but his fist as well.

This sent Goblin off balance; and Tony took the opening to hit the hovercraft again, and this time it knocked the Goblin off, and sent him spiraling down toward the pavement. Tony dropped immediately, grabbing the Green Goblin by the collar and punching him repeatedly as they descended, and then, once low enough so it wouldn't be fatal, he threw him, sending Goblin into the windshield of a Toyota. He landed on the ground heavily, but was soon surrounded by Chitauri. " _Shit_!" He exclaimed, "There's so many! The longer that portals open the harder this is gonna get!"

"We're on it, Tony, cool your jets!" Was Widow's annoyed response. He then turned his attention back to the Chitauri, who were quickly closing in on him. He brought out his rockets, shooting multiples at the same time, and knocking them back. As he turned back toward Goblin he spotted one that he had not seen, but as it was about to strike him it stopped, and collapsed to the ground, and he realized that the alien had an arrow embedded deep within the back of it's head.

He looked up to see Hawkeye, and he nodded in thanks to him.

He then turned his attention back to the Green Goblin, who was removing himself from the windshield and readying himself to attack once more.

* * *

"Oh _come_ _on_ , I'm sure you can do better than that!" Spider-Man exclaimed as he dodged another one of Doc Oc's robotic arms as they stretched out toward him. He landed gracefully on a window of a building, but hand only moments to jump out of the way before another arm came crashing down in the place where he had been moments before.

" _Whoa_! Getting a little close now, Doc." Spider-Man exclaimed, starting to sweat just a little bit; scampering up the wall as fast as he could. Hundreds of possible solutions and paths to take raced through his head, and he could not pin on of them down as he jumped from the building to avoid Doc Oc, and he free fell for a few moments before shooting out a web and lowering himself delicately to the street below. He had mere moments to roll out of the way as Doctor Octopus came crashing down, cracking the pavement underneath himself as he lashed toward Spider-Man once more, screaming, "Just die, you pest!"

"Sorry, that's not on my to do list for today!" He yelled back as he made a back flip to avoid yet another attack, but this time he fought back. He shot web multiple times at the joint in the robotic arm, causing to to get stuck in place; the surprise of this lack of motion cause Doc Oc to become disoriented, and Spider-Man took the opening to slingshot himself forward, landing feet first on Doc Oc's face, kicking as hard as he could, and sending the Octupi flying backward with a wail of pain as he landed heavily on the pavement, robotic arms flailing about. "Ha ha!" Spidey shouted, but his joy quickly turned to dread as Doc Oc got back up and came back at him full force.

* * *

Natasha's feet hit the rooftop gravel hard as she took of running as fast as she possibly could, and braced herself as she launched herself of the edge of the rooftop, flying through the air and grabbing the edge of the next roof top, squealing in fright as she almost lost her grip.

It was then that she noticed the flyer heading toward her, shooting energy blasts toward her. "Cliiiint!" She cried, "Little help here!" She scurried to try and pull herself up and over onto the building's roof, and was relieved as an arrow knocked the Chitauri off it's flyer.

But it did nothing to stop the flyer that continued in her direction, and it struck the side of the building seconds after she had pulled herself up.

She watched as the fired descended down to the road below, before turning back. She knew her objective. She was heading for the portal gun. It was right in front of her. She took off running again, her lungs burning from the exertion, and then she jumped, landing with a roll and wincing as the gravel scraped at her skin.

She turned to the left to see Thor and his companions valiantly fighting off Venom, who snapped and screeched and clawed at them repeatedly, and she watched as the woman with him was thrown roughly over the side of the building. For a moment Natasha was worried, but they she remembered that the fire escape was on that side, and she saw the woman pull herself back up onto the roof, and launch herself back into the fray.

Natasha refocused on her objective, running past and sliding, narrowly missing Steve and Doom, who seemed to be engaged in a fistfight. She reached the weapon immediately, searching it up and down. "I don't know what to do with this thing, help me here, Tony!" She yelled, fingers gliding over the carbon surfaces of the portal device. Tony's voice finally, after moments of silence, piped up, "Okay, okay, get to the right side of the device, near where the light is emanating from."

Natasha maneuvered around until she found where he had described, "Okay, I'm here. What's next."

There was another moment of silence, and a curse from Tony's end, before he finally replied, "Alright, _sorry_ , now, there should be something that looks like a pin. That's what is keeping the device running. Unlatch it, and pull it out, and the device will shut off."

"Got it."

Natasha searched around all over the right side of the device, where Tony had told her, but she did not see what Tony had described. After a few moments, she discovered what appeared to be a latch cover. She ripped it off with difficulty, and there, sure enough, was the pin Tony had said would be there. It was a large pin that went through the entire device, and was attached by a steel string that allowed for the pin to stay attached to the device even if it were removed.

She grabbed it by one end tightly, and pulled with all her might. The pin moved slowly; it would be a slow process.

"Come on you son of bitch! Get _outta_ there!" Natasha shouted, putting a foot against the device and pulling even harder. It was exceedingly difficult to hold on to the small cylinder as she pulled so hard, and finally, _finally,_ it began to slide out. So she tugged harder. She couldn't help but burst out into laughter, finally, it was almost over. The portal would be turned off and then everything would be so much easier from there!

It was a few moments before she registered what happened. She was lying on her back, and she was vaguely aware of her stomach smoking, and then the pain registered. It shot through her and she knew immediately that she had been hit by Doctor Doom, and the electricity coursed through her, and she could feel the burn marks materializing on her stomach as she patted on her suit to try and squash any flames that may have been there.

And it was then and only then, that she realized that she held the pin in her open hand. A large smile crossed her face as she looked up at Doom, who stood a few feet away, screaming in anger. "NO! Goddamnit! You useless, _AH_!" Doom began storming over to Natasha, but was roughly ripped away as Steve pounced on him from behind yelling, "Natasha! Get back to Clint!"

She nodded, getting to her feet, wincing at the pain that radiated from a cut eyebrow and the burns on her stomach, and she turned to run at Clint, but stopped short. The portal had closed...but a little too late. Another leviathan was flying toward them, along with about over a hundred more Chitauri flyers, and something that she did not recognize.

"Oh no..."

Tony turned from his suspended position in the air toward the sounds he heard barreling toward them. "Holy shit! Oh no is right!"

It was as if all their hope had been crushed. They had closed the portal...but had done it too late. They all knew that they could not contain it all plus the super villains that still continued to be a problem. They were essentially doomed.

Steve roughly threw Doom backward into a ventilation opening, sending him tumbling to the ground face first. Spider-Man at that moment jumped over the side of the building, Doc Oc following close behind. Thor had finally had enough of Venom, and had grabbed the monster roughly, throwing it off the side of the building toward the street below with a roar of rage. It was then that Thor was the first to notice the screaming sound hurtling toward them. The Avengers looked up simultaneously, along with the villains, to see a strange colored object flying toward them at a peculiar speed. Steve turned to Doctor Doom who was staring in awe up at the sky also, before he yelled, "You're kidding me?!" Before trying to take of, but tripping on his cape and falling back to the gravel.

It took Steve a moment to realize exactly what it was. But he realized it as soon as it was no farther away than a few football fields. "Run! Everybody run! It's a bomb!"

The panic was instantaneous. They all went scattering. Natasha remembered her feet sliding in the gravel as she made a mad scramble for the other building; her teammates, her _friends,_ all scrambled around her, running for the next building. She also saw Doom and Doc Oc, who dashed in the same direction. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, as Natasha took a step to make her jump, and then it was like a sonic boom went off.

Waves and waves of nothing but wind hit her causing her to stumble, throwing her jump trajectory off as she went cascading toward the other building. Then there was the heat. It was unmistakable and she could only describe it as what it felt like to open a hot oven and have the waves of heat hit you in the face. There was immediately screaming, and then a force unlike any she had ever felt hit her from behind, and everything faded instantly to black.

"Thor!"

" _Thor_!"

The noise sounded as if he were underwater. It sounded as if someone was calling his name...

Everything was muddled and deformed and barely audible. He couldn't see anything, and he didn't know if it was because of the fact that his eyes were closed, or there was no light. He was vaguely aware of a heavy weight on his back, but he found that he could not move his body. His senses were muddled, and he could not concentrate his mind on any one thing. He wondered if perhaps he was dreaming; the smell in the air reminded him of ash, sulfur, and dust. The surface beneath him he registered as exceedingly rough, it reminded him of stones, or gravel...

After a few moments he became aware of a pressure, and he realized there were hands on him, and after a few short moments the enormous pressure on his back, which had been severely limiting his breathing, was removed from him.

He still could not see, and his body was still not responding to any of the commands he was giving it...if he even could. His body was moved roughly, and the hard surface beneath him was replaced by something firm, but soft.

As his mind slowly began to come back to him, he became aware of a familiar scent, a familiar voice whispering to him in his ear, and movement. And then it was suddenly easier to breath. His lungs which had begun to burn, were suddenly filling with oxygen.

He had begun to cough, and his body shook violently as he began to come back to himself. His eyes flickered open and closed multiple times as he was set upon the ground. He continued coughing, staring at the cracked sidewalk beneath him, beginning to relax but starting to feel the soreness and pain that radiated through his entire body. A lot of it was centered in his back, but some of it was coming from his left arm and chest. He quickly looked himself over, and for the most part he had held up against the blast rather well. His left arm had a rip in the armor and a gash in his arm. His back however he could not see, but he assumed it held some sort of injury, that throbbed and burned painfully with every movement; and he guessed that he was in shock.

" _Thor_."

The voice finally snapped him out of his shock, and it was then that he finally realized that his savior had disappeared, then reappeared, and it was the black boots that he recognized first. He gaze traveled up the dark battle pants, across the golden, green and black armored chest, the green cape...and his gaze settled at the golden horned helmet, set upon a familiar face.

And in his outstretched hand, sat Mjolnir.


	14. Thanos

And in his outstretched hand, sat Mjolnir.

"Loki..."Thor's voice was a whisper barely audible, as he gazed up in awe at his little brother, who stood before him. Loki looked completely untouched by the chaos surrounded them, golden armor shining brightly, face unharmed and as beautiful and animated as Thor remembered it; his shoulders were covered in dust and ash, and Mjolnir stay fixed in his right hand as he held it out to Thor, with an expectant look on his face a lopsided smile. Thor simply gazed at Loki as his face crumbled slowly; he struggled to his feet, body protesting loudly, painfully...and then he stood face to face with his brother as the tears sprang to his eyes and he struggled to keep a straight face and steady voice as he said, "You came back."

"I did."

Thor's gaze inevitably traveled down toward Loki's hand before he glanced back up at Loki's green eyes as he whispered, "You're holding Mjolnir, brother."

"Indeed, I am."

It was then that they embraced, Mjolnir slipping from Loki's hand as he hugged his brother back, embracing each other tightly as they cried into one another's shoulders; and they stayed like that for a long time, completely unaware of the carnage around them. After a few long moments, Thor pulled away, reaching out and grabbing the back of his brother's head affectionately, gazing at the tears the graced _Loki's_ face as well, as he had done so many times before, and he said, "I love you, Loki."

"I love you too...Brother." A smile broke out across his face as he nudged Thor's hand from him, chuckling, and said, "Now, if you're finished with all this _sentiment_ , we have a war to win."

Thor smiled along with Loki, as he bent down and recovered Mjolnir, putting her in her proper place on his belt as he said, "You're right. Let's do this."

"With help, of course."

When Thor gave Loki a questioning look, the trickster simply smiled and said, "Follow and _everything_ will be _explained_." Thor followed Loki as they navigated through the rubble, and even seeing was difficult with all the particles in the air. The entire building along with the portal gun had been destroyed; the remnants lay around them, large pieces of concrete laying around, and Thor guessed that the heaviness on his back had been a large slab of concrete; and he wondered with worry if any of his friends lay trapped under the rubble as he had. But Thor followed Loki's horned silhouette as they finally got out of the rubble and back out onto the street, visibility increasing dramatically.

And that's where Thor was stopped in shock. Standing in the streets, and backed up into alleyways, and even on the rooftops, was the largest gathering of allies Thor had _ever_ seen. And never in his life had Thor seen so many races stand together for a sole purpose. In the crowd before him stood the Frost Giants, their blue skin and dark markings, and their unequaled height made them stand out; equipped with their weapons of ice and a chill in the air that followed them everywhere. And then there were the Einherjar, which Thor recognized immediately. They were armed with spears, swords, archers stood atop the rooftops, every type of weapon that had been present in Asgard's armory.

Then there were what Thor recognized _with_ _surprise_ , as the Dark Elves. They sat head and shoulders shorter than the all others, with energy guns and small knives, and most were situated near the back. And at the front, who else but Loki, Wanda, Quicksilver, Malekith...and Frigga.

"Oh, brother," Thor said, shaking his head and smiling in disbelief. It was an army. Loki brought a goddamn army. Thor could have laughed out loud at the hilarity and absolute impossibility of the situation they were in right now, and he almost thought that perhaps he _was_ killed in the explosion, and this was just some weird kind of limbo or what. Or perhaps Loki and all of these people were killed also and they were all here together in Hel. But Thor found both of those scenarios very hard to believe. So he sighed and accepted the simple truth...Loki _was_ here, and there _was_ an army here...and that army was to assist them.

It was then that Steve's voice crackled over the comm-link. His voice sounded tired and sore, and his breathing was rather labored as he said, "You guys okay over there? I've got Spidey, Tony, and the three Asgardian guys over here with me."

Thor twisted around to gaze at the building next to the rubble, which was surprisingly, still standing. It was missing a rather large chunk and the windows had all been shattered, but otherwise it stood sturdily. Upon the roof, gazing down and Thor and the army, was indeed Steve, Spider-Man, Tony, and Thor's companions. Steve's voice was once again heard over the comm-link, "And who...are _they?"_

Thor laughed, answering him, "That my friend...is our backup."

"Holy hell."

Thor simply laughed as Steve continued, "We also got Doom, Doc Oc, and Goblin tied down over here. So their not gonna be a problem. But we're missing Natasha and Hawkeye...and Banner." Thor was about to answer him when the comm-link activated once again, and Hawkeye's familiar voice was transmitted into their ears, "I'm A-Okay, situated up on the building to your right. I've got visual...on _all_ of you. As for Natasha and Banner? I can't say, haven't seen em'."

"We're coming to you." Steve replied, and Thor and the rest waited for a few minutes before everyone except Hawkeye, who stayed fixed to his vantage point, was gathered around, gazing in awe at the army before them. Tony walked up to Loki his faceplate retracting as he held out a small black device saying, "Here, fix it to your ear, so you can at least keep up with what's going on." He did the same with Wanda, Frigga, and Quicksilver. Loki fixed the device to his ear, and winced at the oddness of it as he switched it into it's on position.

Steve opened his mouth to begin speaking, but Loki interrupted him, "Alright, I know we've been hit hard, and morale has taken a nosedive. But we cannot give up. The very nine realms hang in the balance." Loki motioned to the sky for all to see as he continued his speech, "That ship up there; that's where the bomb came from. That," He turned back to them, "is where we need to go. I'm hoping if we fell the ship, the rest will follow. Steve, Thor, Sif, Volstag, Hogun, mother; you are going to be our ground support. I want you all following with the armies. Hawkeye, you'll stay above us with the rest of the archers. You'll be our covering fire. Tony, you'll get up there with some of the Dark Elves and their ships and you're going to be our air support...and don't worry, should we need more forces..." His voice faded suddenly before it picked back up, "I have...some _other_...should we need..."

"What of me and my brother?" Wanda asked, stepping forward in her silver and scarlet armor, and Thor could not deny the resemblance she held to his brother as Loki turned toward her, reaching out and caressing her cheek, tracing her faceplate, before grabbing the back of her head like Thor had done to him so many times before, but this time he brought her forehead to his as he said, "You and your brother will search for Natasha, Banner, and any other survivors that may still be in the city. Can you handle that, my dear?"

Wanda's eyes widened in surprise as she pulled away, gasping and shouting, "But I want to stay and fight! With you!"

Loki simply grasped her once more, connecting their forehead, helmets technically, as he said, "Do not worry, you will be reunited with me afterward, I promise. For now, there are survivors that need your help."

Wanda was silent as she gazed, eyebrows knitted together, lips pressed into a thin line, into Loki's eyes, before she answered in merely a whisper, "Alright. I will do all I can."

Loki however sensed her distress, and he rubbed their foreheads together gently in a common Asgardian expression of intimate connection, before he planted a kiss to her forehead and said in a rather confident tone, "Do not worry, my love. I have no plans of dying, today."

It did not convince her, but she nodded, stepping back as he released her and joining her brother as Loki turned to the army that gathered behind him. Several of Loki appeared around the crowd, and then he raised his voice, the clones acting as intercoms as he said, "Frost Giants, Asgardians, you shall work together on the ground. I need you to take out as many of these monsters as you can. Dark Elves, get half of your men into their ships, we need someone fighting those leviathans and speeders, keep the rest on the ground. Archers, provide us with covering fire." The clones then disappeared, and Loki turned to Thor and the Avengers, smiling, "Now, let's turn the tides of this battle."

And in a moment his scepter materialized in his hand, and he raised it into the air, shouting as loud as he could, "For Asgard! For Jotunheim! For all the Nine Realms!"

And then it was the chaos of battle. Thor watched as he heard the thundering roar of many a warrior as they all raced into battle, it was like a mob as they all raced by, and Thor did not deny the pleasant feeling it gave him, to participate in such a battle again; oh he remembered how he had craved it when he was younger. He smiled though, as he realized that perhaps Odin's purpose for Loki had been fulfilled anyhow; Loki had succeeded in bringing the Jotunns and the Asgardians together, peacefully, and now they fought for a common purpose. Thor did not think Loki realized this; but he had no time to ponder it any further as he pulled Mjolnir from his belt and ran into the fray.

* * *

Quicksilver turned to his sister as they watched the army storm off into Manhattan, the fighting erupting almost instantly, and all that filled their ears were the sounds of clashing metal, screaming, and the sounds of the flyers and ships above them. He smiled at her in the hopes of calming her nerves, as he settled himself in front of her, bending down to allow her to jump upon him more easier. With a mighty leap, Wanda landed on her brother's back, and she shifted as she repositioned herself and he fixed his arms to hold her legs. He turned his head to glance at her from the corner of his eye as he asked, "You ready, Wanda?"

"Yes. But wait!" She pointed over to the pile of rubble that had been moments before a building and said, "We should check their for Natasha first." Quicksilver nodded, and in moments they had arrived, and he dropped her gently to the ground, and as she landed her cape billowed up behind her, the scarlet casting shadows upon the slabs and chunks of concrete. "Help me search," she ordered him and he nodded at her, and took off, running from one place to another in the blink of an eye, and she rolled her own eyes, and thought how he was probably not going to find anything going that fast.

She made tentative steps across the concrete pieces, and she almost lost her balance as they shifted precariously under her feet. Her new boots gave her a steady grip as she continued walking, and every so often she would gaze around herself, squinting to try and see through the heavy fog of dust and ash, to make sure that none of the monsters from the street decided to enter in behind her. As she continued into the remnants of the building she realized she had lost sight of her brother. This made her uneasy, but she continued. It was dark and she could hardly see. She pushed her magic into her fingers and arms, pushing the magical energy outside of herself to create a low level light, tinted red as she turned her head to gaze under a rather large slab.

"Ah!" She exclaimed as she reeled away, frightened by the dead Chitauri that lay under the large slab. "Uch," She made a face of disgust and continued no into the building. "Natasha!" She called out, and she stopped her walking as she listened for an answer. Her heartbeat accelerated when she heard a small moan in response. She moved a little bit quicker in the direction of the sound, and as she walked, the rubble beneath her shifted suddenly, and sent her toppling down a drop of about seven feet. She landed hard on the rubble below, and let out a squeal of pain, but for the most part she realized that the armor had broken her fall.

She marveled at the wonders the Asgardians had created. "This must be the basement," She whispered to no one in particular, as she gazed around in the rather dark room. She took a few steps forward, stumbling once as her foot slid from an unstable chunk of concrete, and she winced as her feet connected with glass of what she assumed was broken window. She could hear the sounds of water dripping, and she guessed it was from some broken plumbing.

"Natasha?" She whispered as she walked further in, her magic not even doing much too alleviate the perpetual darkness of what she still assumed was the basement of the building. She walked forward cautiously, and that was when she heard it; the shifting of rubble and a low groaning sound, "Natasha?" She called again, reluctant to raise her voice. She could not deny the fear that choked her as she fumbled through the dark.

And then it grabbed her. She felt it's slimy hands on her shoulders as it spun her around and roared in her face. She let out a terrified scream as she stumbled backward away from the Chitauri. She landed roughly on her butt with her heart in her throat as she screamed again, calling out the name of a man she knew was not there. She called for Loki...instead of her brother.

The Chitauri ran toward her awkwardly, the missing right arm causing it's movement to take on a rather twitchy gait. It roared again as it reached out toward her with teeth gnashing. In a swift movement of nothing but fear, Wanda raised her hand screaming, "Get away from me!" and released a magic that was not completely her own. It burst forth from where she knew not, and it coursed through her body and pumped out of her palm, and by the time it had stopped she finally stopped her squealing. She sat there on the ground, palm still raised, as she tried to control her breathing.

"Holy shit." She sighed, as she gawked at the long dead Chitauri. It stay where it had been, mid run, completely and utterly frozen. Wanda could feel the cold emanating off of the frozen creature and she marveled at it. She also was terrified at how close it had come to killing her. She reached out tentatively, but retracted her hand at the spike of cold she felt as she touched it. "How did I do that?" She wondered, taking a step away from the frozen creature.

It was then that Loki's voice echoed in her head, _'I have imbued the armor with my Seidr, and you may call on it as often as you see the need...but be forewarned...the more you call upon it, the more it shall bind itself to you.'_

It had been Loki's magic that she had used to freeze the creature. She could tell now, she could _feel_ it, coursing through her but receding from her at the same time. It was far more powerful than hers, but familiar all the same. And she suddenly felt safe...a comfort from knowing that a strong piece of him was with her... _within_ her...was strange and comforting all at the same time.

She took another deep breath, calming her thundering heart as she let out a long sigh, reluctant to turn her back upon the creature.

"Wanda?"

Wanda immediately turned to the weak voice, and it was then that she spotted it. In the far corner of the darkened room was Natasha, leaning up on her arms and gazing at Wanda with tired and pained eyes. Wanda ran over immediately, tripping over a jutting slab and landing on her knees before Natasha as she asked, "Widow! Are you alright?"

Natasha was slow to respond, and Wanda could tell that she had just come back from unconsciousness as she spoke, slow and rather pained, "My foot is stuck." Wanda followed her gaze down her leg to her right foot, which lay pinned under a rather large piece of rubble. Wanda winced and said quietly, "Allow me to remove it. It may hurt a little." She called her magic forth, and she watched as it's red tendrils wisped around the slab of concrete, before it began to move, slowly, levitating slightly, before Wanda pushed with all her might, ignoring Natasha's cries of pain, and throwing the chunk of cement away from them and into the wall. They watched as it shattered into a bunch of smaller pieces, and Natasha brought her leg up to her body immediately, cradling it for a few moments, before turning back to Wanda and whispering through clenched teeth, "Okay, let's get out of this dingy basement. They need us upstairs. Help me."

Wanda reached out, grabbing Natasha by the arm and hauling her upwards. She stopped to give the woman time to right herself, before she began limping alongside Wanda, and they head back up the pile of rubble to the main level. Wanda steadied her friend multiple times as they climbed, at soon they were out on the sidewalk. Natasha collapsed immediately into a heap on the cement, crying out in pain and holding her injured leg. Wanda simply looked on, unsure of what to do and annoyed that she could do nothing to help her friend.

But then she heard a voice calling for her, and she turned to see Frigga jogging down the street toward them, sword in it's hilt at her side as she stopped before them. "I heard what happened from your brother. Perhaps I can help with this."

"By all means," Wanda said, stepping away to give the Asgardian woman room to work. She watched Frigga in interest as a golden magic surrounded her hand and she said to Natasha, "Allow me to ease your suffering, child." She ghosted her hand over Natasha's injured leg, and Wanda watched her friend's face contort in pain, but slowly revert to normal as Natasha breathed a sigh of relief. After a few moments Frigga smiled, "There, just like we do it in Asgard. You will experience minor pain, but walking and running should be of no difficulty to you now."

"Thank you." Natasha said, smiling gratefully at Frigga as she got to her feet slowly. She turned to Wanda then and said, "Thanks for the saving, Scarlet. I'll be seeing you soon. But for now," Natasha gazed up and the rooftops and smiled, "I think Clint needs me."

Both Frigga and Wanda watched Natasha run off out of view, before they turned to each other and Frigga said, "Call me if you need anything else, dear." She put her hand on Wanda's shoulder as she said, "Take care and I'll see you after the battle." With that she was off, and left Wanda wondering if everyone in Asgard was like that.

* * *

Tony flew above them, and watching this epic battle from above was almost like watching a movie. He could not believe that he had become mixed up in some kind of mythological warfare, but he thought it relatively awesome nonetheless. He spiraled to avoid a speeder, followed by a Dark Elf ship, their energy blasts flying through the air at high speeds, and Tony found them rather annoying. He tilted his body upward as he changed his direction upward hard, his flying speed increasing as he put more power into his bottom repulsors.

He neared the ship quickly and once he was level with it he turned, flying around it and examining it for any point that could be used as entry. It was very well armored, and finally Tony called to Jarvis. "Jarvis, scan this thing and find me a point of entry."

"Right away sir."

Tony flew around it again, half expecting something to burst from it as he flew and then he heard Jarvis' voice again. "There is an entry point on the top of the ship in the back. It is used for cargo drops but could be used to enter the ship."

"Thanks Jarvis." Tony smiled, he had found a way in. He called the others over the comm-link, "Alright guys, I got a way into this thing. Now all we need is to get some people up here."

"We'll be on it in a minute, Tony, just cool it for a second." Was Steve's exhausted reply, and Tony could tell he must have been fighting for his breathing was heavy and he sounded winded. It was then that Tony spotted something on the side of the flying machine.

* * *

Everything had been going rather well on the ground, thanks to the assistance of the small army Loki had gathered. Thor sidestepped as a Frost Giant went barreling past him with a roar of fury, ramming into a group of Chitauri and sending them scattering, before summoning an ice club and pummeling all of them into pancake remnants of themselves. Thor laughed heartily as he smashed another Chitauri with Mjolnir, however he did not notice until it was to late the monster behind him.

Before it could strike him it was impaled from behind with a shriek of pain, and thrown to the side. And once the alien had been thrown Thor could see Loki, scepter poised behind him in an attack position as he smirked at Thor, before blasting another Chitauri with the orb of his scepter, sending the alien through a glass window in the building across the street.

"Not doing to bad, eh brother?" Thor called, and Loki replied in turn, "No, not at all!"

It was almost like old times again, the brothers fighting side by side; and Thor was somewhat warmed by it. But he continued his fighting, wary of losing his concentration as he swung Mjolnir upwards, catching another Chitauri in the jaw and sending it flying through a window two stories up. He laughed as he did so, the rush of battle and the joy of striking an opponent rushing through his veins like a drug. Steve, who had had his shield returned to him by Loki, threw it with force, striking an alien and having it return to him like a boomerang. Once the monster in front of him was taking down, he refocused his attention on the spaceship hovering above them; Tony had found them a way in. Now all there was left to do was to get a unit up there.

Steve turned briskly to Thor, shouting, "Clear the area, then meet on me!"

Thor nodded once, throwing himself full force into clearing the remaining Chitauri from their section of the road. Thor, Loki, and their companions did a right job of it, taking them down one by one in quick succession, and Steve stood in the empty street as the flyers and ships zipped by overhead in awe, but shook his head and approached them as they gathered together.

"Alright," Steve said, gazing around at the members that were gathered around him presently, which wasn't many considering how many they had in the field at the moment. Thor, Loki, himself, Thor's companions, and Spider-Man now stood before him as he inhaled deeply, letting the air back out through his nose slowly, as he focused himself. "Alright," he repeated, "we need to get a team up there on that ship; however, we have no idea what's in there. So I want everyone to know the risks involved before anyone goes on that ship. Tony found us a way in at the back, but getting up there's going to be trouble enough. So we're sending a smaller than average team." Steve gazed out over them, going through the missing teammates in his head as he formulated who he thought would be the best fit for the infiltration. He was about to speak, when he was interrupted.

"I am going." Thor stated resolutely, and the very tone of his voice stated that there would be no swaying him in this matter. "It is my people that brought all of this upon you, it should be at least one of us that helps to resolve it. Just me. I will not allow anyone else to be harmed because of my foolishness."

"Alright," Steve caved, sighing in exhaustion and defeat. He then began speaking again, "Thor if you're going in there...please...at least take Loki with you."

"What?!" He received the same response from both brothers; Thor looked at Steve rather angrily, and Loki simply had a look of utter disbelief plastered all over his face, his trademark smile vanished as he continued speaking, "I'm not going in there! Plus, I have an army to command."

"Your army will be fine without you for a little while. Plus, if I'm correct," Steve turned to Thor hoping that this would be what convinced the tall Asgardian man, "this is Loki's fault. He should be one of the ones to fix it."

There was a long silence as Thor contemplated this, lips pressed into a thin line and brow thoroughly furrowed as he stared at the ground with a glare for a long time; and Steve worried that he still had not convinced Thor. But at last, Thor voice rang out with a sigh of defeat, "Very well, I shall allow this. I do agree that Loki should participate in the stopping of this turmoil, and if that involves getting upon that ship and crushing everything inside, then he shall follow me into the fray as well.

"No!" Loki protested, "I came back here to help stop this! That is all!

"Exactly," Thor exclaimed, fixing his hand to Loki's bicep and gripping it tightly, Mjolnir swinging rapidly in his other unoccupied hand, "That is why you are coming with me!"

"NO! NO, NO, NO, N-" Steve watched as Loki's voice was cut off abruptly as Thor launched himself into the air, and in a moment, there were gone. Steve watched as they met up with Tony in the air, and Loki's squealing could be heard from the street.

* * *

Loki was dropped through the hatch roughly, and try as he might, he could not right his disoriented body before he hit the ground roughly, landing on his butt with a thud. "Ouch!"

Thor let out a heartily laugh as he fisted Loki's cape in his hand and lifted, pulling his little brother to his feet easily. "I thought you were more graceful than that Loki."

Loki simply scoffed, shrugging off his brother's hand as he brushed the imaginary dirt from himself and straightened up, rubbing his backside absentmindedly as they gazed around. There were shipment containers and what appeared to be cargo storage piled all around them in the rather small room. "Kind of small, for a storage hold."

Thor nodded without paying much attention to his younger brother as he gazed around looking for a way into the major part of the ship. Loki continued his prattling, and Thor could tell he was nervous. Loki always prattled when he was nervous.

"What use would they have for all this stuff? Where do you think the door is? Do you really think this is a good idea, because I have just a terrible feel-" Thor cut him off abruptly, "Loki!"Loki turned to Thor with wide eyes as Thor continued, "Be silent."

Loki shut his mouth silently, all the while sending Thor a dirty look as they both wandered around the small, cluttered room. A terrible feeling was building up in Loki's gut, and it sent shivers of dread that raised goosebumps all over his body. He had a feeling of what was waiting for him inside the ship; and most of him screamed and writhed and told him to run; run far far away from this ship and never turn back. Part of him was so terrified of what lay in store that he almost didn't care about what happened to Manhattan; as long as he got away.

But he was ashamed of that way of thinking. He steeled himself as he spied the door, and he raised and hand and pointing in it's rusting direction, "Brother, I've found it." Loki walked over to it slowly, boots tapping gently against the concrete floor as he approached the door. It seemed as if one of the larger crates had slid during it's journey through the portal, and had lodged itself in front of the rusting metal door. Loki gazed at the rather heavy looking box for a long moment, before turning to Thor and smiling, gesturing at the crate and taking a large step backward. Thor simply deadpanned at him, rolling his eyes and walking over to it, leaning down and pushing the crate hard. It slid loudly cross the floor, and Loki winced; that had been loud.

Loki gazed around nervously, sending out his consciousness for a few feet, but detected nothing pushing against his own; so his nervousness calmed a bit. He snapped his head in Thor's direction angrily, snipping, "Could you be any louder? I don't think they've heard us yet!"

Thor simply sighed, rolling his eyes and saying, "Did you want me to move the crate or not? You asked me to move it, I moved it. Make up your mind Loki, I cannot control what the crate does."

"Oaf."

"What was that Loki?"

Loki simply harrumphed in response, turning the other direction and walking toward the door, gripping his scepter so tightly that his knuckles began to turn white as he put his back against the wall next to the door and glanced back at Thor, "Are you ready, brother?" Thor nodded. Loki reached out tentatively, hesitating for just a moment as his fingers wrapped around the cold metal of the doorknob, and he turned slowly, wincing at every creak it's rusty hinges made as he opened a crack and looked out pensively. When he saw nothing but an empty hallway, he sighed relieved and opened the door fully, taking a few cautious steps out into the deserted hallway.

"It's weird that there is no one here..." Loki wondered aloud, gazing up and down and taking in the work of the ship. Thor answered, not really taking in what Loki had said, "Perhaps they are all down and fighting with the others."

"But what I'm saying is," Loki sighed as they rounded a corner, "why would they leave a mother-ship unguarded?"

The question weighed heavily on Loki, as they walked the deserted hallways. There had to be a reason that they had left the ship unguarded. And what unsettled Loki the most was that maybe...it was because they figured that whatever was inside the ship...was strong enough to take down both brothers without need of assistance. And Loki thought he knew what that was...and it shivers returned as they walked further into the ship.

Thor gazed around, listening to the tap of their boots on the metal floor as they followed the long corridor. There were numerous doors, and as they passed each one they opened automatically, as if they sensed their presence, and each one was small and lay empty. Something did not sit right with Loki, but he continued to follow his elder brother; he did not have much choice in the matter of whether or not he wanted to stay or go. But he did wish that he could leave; he could not shake his sense of unease...

Thor continued his walk down the long and winding hallways, and he did not do much to hide his steps. He glanced back over his shoulder at Loki, who slunk along a few feet behind him; something nagged at him as he watched Loki, and it came to his attention that his brother seemed very on edge. Thor had not seen him acting like such since his previous attack on Manhattan, when he had been acting like a madman.

Something was familiar of it, but Thor could not place it, so he simply shrugged it away. But he was a little on edge himself; he had not wanted to take his little brother along with him, for fear that Loki would be injured, but Steve had given him nay a choice in the matter. It was then that they came upon a set of double doors, quite larger than the previous ones, and Thor stopped abruptly, Loki running into him from behind with an 'oof' and a curse as he whined, "What is wrong with you?" And then Loki's gaze traveled up past Thor, to the doors that his older brother stood looking at and he sighed, "Oh."

"Come on, Loki."

Loki was resistant immediately. "Thor, are you mad? You're going to storm in there with nay a plan and expect everything to go smoothly?" Thor simply shrugged heavily, grasping Loki's wrist and pulling him along. Loki resisted, trying to pull away but to no avail as he squealed, "You imbecile! You are leading us to our deaths!"

But Thor paid him no head as he continued toward the door. And then it was there. A blast upon Loki's mind so powerful it knocked him to his knees, his vision fading out for a moment as he tried to register what had happened. Thor spun around as he felt the dead weight on his arm as he asked, "Loki, get up and let's go, you're being ridiculous."

Loki did not answer however as his mind registered shock wave after shock wave against his mind, something heavy and powerful trying to push past his defenses. He knelt with eyes wide open, breathing hard as it began to subside. "Loki?" Thor asked, beginning to become concerned. But Loki was foolish. He let his guard down. It hit him again; this time breaking through the magical defenses he had put over his mind; and he felt it worming it's way through him and then it was all black.

* * *

The dizziness that overtook him as this happened made him sick, and it twisted his stomach in knots as his mind rendered the landscape around him slowly.

The Other.

The Other stood before him as he had countless times before, but this time, instead of keeping his kneeling position Loki raised himself immediately, enraged. "You! What do you do to me! I thought we had a deal!"

The Other simply gazed at him like always, hidden face devoid of emotion and not once did the Other give away what he was feeling. He simply said raised a hand, aimed toward Loki's knees, uttered something Loki could not hear, and then Loki found himself on his knees again, gazing up at the Other who approached rather slowly, and the increasing unease that Loki was feeling was slowly turning into unbridled terror as the Other spoke, _"I have reconsidered our deal. I feel I shall be better suited to a master who is...alive."_

Loki's eyes widened, "What do you mean? I am alive!" His eyes widened considerably more as it dawned on him what the Other meant. He watched as the creature outstretched it's hand, and Loki moved his legs underneath him, attempting to throw himself away from the outstretched oddly-fingered hand, but was to late, as it grasped him by the face, it's grip tightening to unbearable amount, as Loki wriggled and writhed, hands grasping at the slimy thing that held his face; he felt the heat begin lacing through the Other's fingers, and he felt the unbearable hotness, and the pain that came with it, bleed into his own body, his face, his head.

" _Now run back to yourself, little prince. For the Mad Titan awaits you."_

Loki opened his mouth to scream but found that no sound escaped him, as he was finally allowed to retreat into the not-so-safety of his own mind.

* * *

"Loki!" Thor bellowed, shaking his little brother by the shoulders savagely, and after a few moments he was roughly slapped away with a vicious swipe of Loki's arm, and he fell backwards onto his butt. Thor watched as Loki tried desperately to slow his breathing, and Thor noticed that he was suddenly sweating. "Loki, are you alright?" Thor asked cautiously as he got back into a crouch position, reaching a hand out toward Loki only to have it slapped away along with a hissed, " _Don't touch me!_ "

Thor simply sighed in defeat and gave Loki a few moments to collect himself. After a few moments of heavy breathing, Loki sighed, gazing up at Thor from his position on the ground, the phantom pain radiating through his body fading slowly as he was able to refocus. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with disgust as he looked up at Thor. Thor was surprised to find fear in his little brother's eyes, and he was confused, hurt, and angry that his brother did not share with him what bothered him. Loki took a deep shaky breath, before stand to his feet on unsteady legs.

A bunch of thoughts raced through his mind as he took a moment to steady his breathing and slow his erratic heartbeat. He now knew what fate awaited him should he decide to enter that room. He could feel the overwhelming mental presence of the one that awaited him, and the multiple possibilities that soared through his mind terrified him.

But then he sighed. He was Loki, God of Mischief, and he should not be afraid of even a Titan. Ever since the Titan's hold on his mind had broken, he had knew that this was what would await him eventually. And he finally resigned to accept it. He had his brother with him now; and the worst that could happen would be what he would expect...death.

But the best that could happen...was that they would be victorious, and the nine realms would be saved, and Loki would have no more fear of what was to occur. He turned to Thor who still held a look of worry in his eyes and he said, "Fear not brother, I have recovered."

"Recovered from _what_ , Loki!? Why must you shut me out like this? You have always done so!"

Loki was immediately offended, "Perhaps that is because when I did so in the _past_ I was always rebuked, or a liar, or made fun of!" He took a deep breath, stopping himself before the argument continued. Thor looked slightly irritated, but remained silent as Loki continued, voice calm once again, "I'm sorry brother. Let us go, and face whatever is inside... _Together_."

* * *

Hawkeye could see they were struggling a bit on the ground. From his perch atop the rooftop he watched as the hordes of their allies destroyed the aliens that swarmed all over the city. He switched his gaze to the leviathan that was passing, tightened his bow, and released, the arrow spiraling toward the large creature and embedding itself it what appeared to be a receptor of some sort. Within a short few moments the arrow ignited, exploding and sending the leviathan changing directions wildly in an attempt to be rid of whatever had caused such a pain.  
Hawkeye chuckled.

The archers surrounded him and on the other rooftops did the same as he; they drew their bows, released their arrows, and repeated. Hawkeye noted the a few of them still had sloppy work and he wondered if they were novices. But what he admired most was the bows. There were finely crafted from some type of Asgardian metal, and the strings shone metallic gold in the sun, and Hawkeye could only wonder what type of alloy or fabric it must be made out of. The metal or wood or whatever it was that constructed it was carved intricately with many designs that were no doubt Asgardian. And one in particular that caught his eye held a symbol carved into the side, that glowed incessantly with every arrow that was loosed. He envied them and wished he had one of his own, but he turned back, stringing and arrow, and loosing it toward a Chitauri who had positioned itself at Steve's six.

Steve twisted around at the sound of the arrow's impact, watching as the Chitauri behind him fell, and he tilted his head to look up at the rooftop to see Clint, who waved at him before stringing another arrow. Steve turned his attention back to the ground. The Chitauri were coming out of the woodwork and had surrounded them; and they just kept coming. It had been more of a struggle after Thor and Loki had left the battlefield, and now Steve realized just how strong both of them were. In mere moments of their departure the tide of battle had changed dramatically; it was still in their favor, considering they had the Frost Giants, who barreled through the streets screaming and growling and laughing, the Asgardians, who fought in tight knit groups, and the Dark Elves, who picked off any stragglers; but it had become increasingly difficult to beat the large numbers back. It really gave Steve a greater appreciation of the fact that they were on _his_ side and not against them.

Steve turned and rolled as a Chitauri blade swiped over his head.

But Frigga was faster, and she was upon the creature in a second, her blade gliding easily through the midsection of the large monster, and the twisting and sliding out with a rather sickening sound that made Steve wrinkle his nose. "How are you holding up, Captain?" Asked the older woman, with a smile playing on her face as she said, "I'd almost forgotten how fun battle can be."

"You people are crazy," Steve mumbled shaking his head as he smiled politely back at her and turning away, throwing his shield to assist one of Thor's companions, Volstag, who had been pinned down by multiple Chitauri.

Frigga turned away from him then, focusing her attention toward Lady Sif, who struggled with three Chitauri of her own. Frigga was happy lend her assistance. She ran over to where Sif was battling, waving her blade in front of the monster's to gather their attention, before she began twirling. In a circle she went, each step leaving a copy of herself behind, and she repeated this until there were five of her, her true body included. And in one swift motion all of the swords her doubles held came crashing down, striking the Chitauri repeatedly, giving Sif the opportunity to strike back unabashed. In a few moments their opponents lay dead on the ground at their feet, and Sif turned smiling back at Frigga as she said, "You still got it, that's for sure."

"Where do you think my sons get it from? Surely not Odin." She chuckled, and Sif could not shake the feeling that Frigga was simply a mischievous old lady; although she looked far from an old lady, her beauty outshone even Sif's own, and she could not lie that she sometimes envied Frigga's beauty. But Odin had always been proud of her, Thor and Loki loved her, and all of Asgard adored her. And so did Sif. When Sif was finished removing her blade from the back of the latest felled monster, she gazed around for Frigga, but could find her nowhere. She wondered where she had gone, but could not see here anywhere.

Spider-Man navigated across the alleyway, landing and hitting a Chitauri with a double kick to the head into a blue guy's awaiting blade. The blue guy laughed, smiling at him before shaking the alien off the blade and turning and barreling away.

It was then that Frigga's voice rang out over the crowds. "Look! Here comes another one!"

The crowds that covered the ground and rooftops turned as they saw everyone else turning to the sky, and sure enough, there was another bomb. It had been released from the ship above them, and was spiraling at a very fast speed toward them. And it was only when Frigga shrieked in horror than Sif turned from the sky to see her standing a few yards away at the street corner, pointing up in the sky toward Avengers tower, "It's heading toward the tower! Odin is in there!"

* * *

When the bomb hit it, it hit like the previous one had. It struck the building with force and sent shock waves of energy as it connected. Odin was thrown from his seated position on the couch, tumbling forward, and he landed heavily on the side of his face, the solid floor scraping his skin, sending waves of pain up through his feeble body as he cried out, sliding forward, his body rolling into the side of the bar as the building moaned and creaked.

Then he heard the deafening roar of the explosion, and the entire building shook heavily. "What in the Norns is going on?!" He exclaimed as he suddenly felt the building tilt, and then he was rolling. He let out a squeal of fright as the slid down the polished floor, and he heard the crashing of glass and he knew where he was headed.

He attempted several times to plant his feet solidly into the ground, his hands and nails scraping as he continued his rolling. "Ah!" At that moment the bar itself dislodged from the wall, the wires and mechanisms cracking as it began sliding toward him, faster than his light body could slide. He did his best to roll away, but the edge of the bar struck his shoulder, a piece of jagged metal cutting him deeply as he cried out in pain. He then felt the glass from the windows scrape against his chest and stomach as the speed of his sliding increased, and he tried desperately to grip anything that might stop his descent as he called out, " _Help_! Someone!"

But it was too late as he felt the floor beneath him disappear under his legs, and he slid down over the balcony, trying desperately at one last attempt to lodge himself onto something as the building tilted again, but this time it seemed to tilt slightly in the opposite direction, almost but not quite bringing the building back to a level position, almost as if it had righted itself. His hand grasped firmly to a support that held up the safety banister at the edge of the balcony, and he shrieked in fright again as his body dangled precariously off the edge of the building. He turned his head to gaze down below, where contents of the building's interior had fallen onto the ground below, some even killing a few stray Chitauri and Odin knew that if he did not fix his current situation he too would join them.

The muscles in his weak arm ached, and he could already feel the grip on the support beam loosening with every passing second. His body protested loudly as he reached up with his left hand, which dangled limply at his side, and attempted to grasp a second support beam for better leverage, as he did so however, his already weakened right hand lost it's grip, dropping him and sending him swinging back and forth, hanging by his left hand, which already wobbled with exhaustion.

He tried hard to contract his core, to lift himself so that he may crawl up to safety, but he was unsuccessful, as he knew he probably would be.

He looked down once again, and could see people running for the tower...Asgardian soldiers, led by...he recognized Frigga immediately and a sadness weighed on his heart. He wished not for her to enter the building and come to his aid. The building was now by far dangerous, wherever that explosion had hit; but what also weighed on him heavily was that they had been reunited for only a short time, and now he must leave her again.

He closed his eyes.

Every each of his weakened body ached, the gash on his right shoulder dripped warm blood onto his clothing and down into the street, and the grip his left hand held was loosened by every passing moment. He accepted his fate, and took one last long breath as his hand lost it's hold and he fell, the gravity taking him down toward the street, toward a fate he knew would come.

But he was stopped by a heavy jerking of his left arm, hard enough to damn near dislocate the shoulder, and a grip so tight on his wrist he thought that it might break. He cried out in surprise, his eyes snapping open and gazing to see what had stopped him from meeting his fate.

The chill seeped into him slowly, and he looked up to meet two large red eyes gazing out over the banister at him, the face hidden by the concrete of the balcony. A Frost Giant. Odin could not believe it. A Frost Giant had saved the old king from a dreadful demise. Odin's head fell to the side, his weak neck barely able to hold it up, and he gazed down to see that Frigga and the soldiers had been stopped from entering the building, and were gazing up in horror at the scene unfolding before them. Odin was glad. He did not wish to see Frigga injure herself.

The tight grip on his hand began to lift, and he felt as if his shoulder would be wrenched from the socket as the Frost Giant lifted him up with ease, all the way over the balcony, to bring him face to face. Odin still dangled over the edge as he met the Giant's gaze. And there before him, stood Laufey, previous King of the Frost Giants.

His red eyes gazed at Odin intensely, and he looked as if he had been in a similar position as Odin; he seemed slightly emaciated, and maybe a little injured, but fared far better and was still far stronger that Odin was at the moment, and that was just how frost giant's were. Laufey still adorned the armor that Odin remembered, and still held himself with the kingly air of confidence and sarcasm that he always had, and he could now not deny the similarities between father and son.

Laufey eyed Odin as Odin spoke hesitantly saying, "You have come to my aid, old friend?"

Laufey waited a few long moments, eying the All-Father up and down, scrutinizing everything about the elder man as he responded in a tone laced with sarcasm, " _Old friend_ now, am I? How _convenient_."

Odin was steadily growing wary. He was more than surprised that it had been a Frost Giant, and _Laufey_ nonetheless, that had come to save him; and he could not deny that he now worried that his past actions against Laufey and his people would influence the giant's decision of whether or not to drop him to his death or to save him. Odin spoke once more, in a voice that was hesitant, "Only friends come to the aid of one another; and old friends are made through combat."

Laufey sighed, wrinkling his nose in a look of disgust, or rather, disbelief, but then his face straightened once more and he said, in the same sarcastic tone as before, "It's funny that you now wish to share a _kinship_ with our race. The very same race you wished to _annihilate_ centuries before."

"I was a foolish young man back then. We both were."

" _Yes_." Was the curt reply as they gazed at each other. Laufey thought a little bit longer before he said, "You had my son for all those years..." His voice trailed off as he gaze back up from the ground at Odin's eyes, and Odin replied, "Yes, I did. I found him on a rock, freezing and starving to death."

There was a long silence, and then Laufey said, the sarcasm devoid in his voice, "My son has fulfilled the purpose you took him for has he not? Our races stand fighting together as one." Odin winced at the ever strengthening pain in his arm from the way Laufey held him but he nodded, saying, "It was an intended purpose at first, but after awhile the purpose faded to the back of my mind and he was nothing more than my _son_. He filled his original purpose on his own."

Laufey was silent again for a long time, before he swung Odin inward, till his feet hovered above the concrete of the balcony, and he set him down gently, releasing his grip on the old man's arm and gazing down at him from where he stood. "Consider a father's debt... _repaid_."

Odin nodded at Laufey as the Frost Giant placed a hand on Odin's shoulder, and Odin could feel a strange sort of chill, the same that would have enraged him in earlier years, course through him, and he felt his strength being restored; not to it's full capacity but enough that he could feel that he could walk, or even fight, if necessary. He gazed up at Laufey in thanks saying, "Thank you, old friend."

Laufey simply rolled his eyes and walked inward, turning his back to Odin and saying, "We have a battle to win. Let us this time, fight side by side, and not on opposite ends."

* * *

"Alright you giant slug, let's see if we can't knock you out of the sky." Tony mumbled to himself as he veered right, trailing one of the leviathans, followed by three or four of the Dark Elves ships, all poised and ready to strike the leviathan. They waited for Tony's mark as he sped up, flying beside the leviathan. He took a deep breath as he said, "Alright, let's go," and released the flare that his suit held in the shoulder.

Almost instantly the ships backing him responded, and he watched as they released massive balls of energy, striking the leviathan with force as it wailed and writhed, turning it's body around to head toward them. " _Watch it, watch it_!" Tony called as he spiraled underneath the creature to avoid it's gaping maw, releasing a rocket into it's underbelly as he came back up behind it. He winced as he watched one of the ships explode as it was crushed in the leviathan's mouth.

They continued firing anyway.

"Oh crap," Tony breath as the leviathan began heading toward the street. Steve was on his comm-link in moments yelling, "Get that thing out of here Tony! Turn it around, _turn it around_!"

"I'm working on it, okay?!" He hollered back, and that's when he heard it.

"HULK SMASH!"

Tony watched in astonishment as Hulk smashed into the head of the creature going in one of it's foul eyes and out the other, dragging the head in the direction with him, away from them as it crashed into the street heavily, and about half a dozen Chitauri went down with it, collapsing in the streets.

" _Great_! Keep that up, Tony!" Steve said, "You're helping us a ton down here."

"You got it boss." Tony said, who had been wondering in the back of his mind where Hulk had been all this time. He turned his suit, hovering in front of Banner, who was beating the corpse of the leviathan repeatedly as Tony said, "Hey buddy, come on we got a few more for ya."

"Hulk Smash?" Hulk asked, stopping his pummeling for a moment to gaze up at Tony who laughed and said, "Yeah buddy, Hulk Smash leviathans."

And then they were off; they had a few more leviathans to take down.

* * *

Loki and Thor entered the room slowly, Thor in the lead, Mjolnir in his hand as he gazed around in wonder at the large expanse of the room, and the balcony that was situated above it. Loki followed Thor, scepter in hand, ready to fight or flee, whatever the case may be. They walked slowly, their footstep echoing as they stepped across the metal.

When the reached the center of the room, it lit up, brighter than it had been before, lighted by a sickening orange glow that reminded Loki of lava, and he could not guarantee that's not what it was than ran through the lighting tubes. The floor beneath them hissed and came alive, the steel underneath the grating open, revealing a sea of lava beneath their feat.

Loki's eyes widened as he gazed panicked through out the room, and all of the floor was made up of the grate material, the lava present under all of it. The only refuge from the floor Loki saw where a few crates stacked here and there, and Thor said to Loki in a tone that indicated confusion and increasing panic, "What is going _on_?"

The doors they had entered sealed themselves shut as they made their way toward them, and Loki watched as another seal fell in place over the first, and all subsequent door's followed suit, for a total of four.

" _No_ ," Loki whispered, gazing around and moving in a panic stricken sort of way. Thor gazed at him, feeling the heat emanate up from the floor, small bursts of flame lapping up every now and again at random places at random intervals as Thor watched Loki in confusion, asking, "Brother, what do you speak of?"

Loki gazed up at Thor in terror, "It's a heating chamber."

"What?" Thor asked, gazing around the room and taking in what he saw, and slowly what Loki said began to make sense as his little brother added, "Like an oven." Thor could see it now. The lava, the metal walls, the triple sealed doors. He turned to Loki, who was even more panic stricken than Thor himself as he said, "Calm yourself brother, tis' not that bad."

"Thor you forget...I am a _Frost Giant_."

The thought struck Thor like a ton of bricks. Loki continued, "This chamber...it was designed... _I am not meant to leave here."_

Panic was now rising in Thor as well, as he looked over at Loki, whose gaze was darting around, face pale as they searched for any possible means of escape; and then a noise that was not all to uncommon from a pressurized door opening sounded from above their heads and captured their attention. They gazed upward, toward the balcony they had almost missed. A large shadow was thrown over the middle of the chamber, and dread weighed heavily over Loki. Heavy footsteps echoed throughout the room, and then... _he_ came into view, and Loki muttered;

" _Thanos..."_


	15. Anyone for Shawarma?

His boots were large and heavy, the disgusting drab color of them covering most of his body, nay his hands and face. His squarish face was set into his helmet in a way that made the helmet look to small for his strange blue head; his eyes were squints of blue inlaid in black; and they appeared bottomless and horrid. His gaze sent waves of irritation, contempt, and malice; and it put the fear of death into Loki as his emerald eyes met the Mad Titan's gaze. The connection was so intense that Loki looked away almost immediately, casting his gaze to the lava flowing under the grated floor, the heat radiating up and into his very bones. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and the goosebumps crossed his skin and prickled under his armor; and suddenly his helmet and scepter felt a whole lot heavier.

Thor cast his gaze upwards, brows knitted together, face contorted, anger blazing behind blue eyes, the storm brewing within them undeniable in his intense gaze. It was then that the Mad Titan shook his head, gazing down condescendingly at the two princes, and then he spoke, his voice deep and undeniable, the tone mocking and insulting as he said, "Y **ou were foolish to come in such small numbers**." Then he turned to Loki, as Loki hesitantly met the Titan's gaze, unwilling to look a coward, " **And** _ **you**_ _,"_ he nodded in Loki's direction, _"_ _ **were foolish to come at all**_."

Loki simply lowered his gaze, the fear that was choking him turned his silver tongue to lead and constricted his throat, crushing his chest and making breathing difficult; his chest rising and falling rapidly, and talking was almost impossible; and the lump in his throat made even swallowing hard as he began to feel the heat swirling under his feet. Thor however, only got angrier, his face twisted in fury and he did not fall silent as Loki had, but instead spoke, confident, but angrily, his loud voice airing into the room as he said, "It matters not! With or without our team, my brother and I are strong. T _ogether?_ Unstoppable. And you _will_ fall...either way."

Loki winced at Thor's words as his body filled with dread; he wished that his brother would be silent. His body was buzzing and his mind was spinning as thousands of thoughts and scenarios raced through his mind, and he turned to look at his brother, but Thor did not return his gaze, instead keeping his blue gaze fixed upon Thanos. Loki shook his head, his breathing unsteady as he looked back up to gaze at Thanos with worry in his eyes as the Mad Titan laughed heavily, and it was evident to Loki that he was mocking them. He knew it would wind up his brother, and as he predicted, it did. Thor's face turned a dark shade of red, his lips curling up into a snarl of rage as Thanos continued speaking, " **I think you overestimate yourselves**." He turned his head toward Loki, " **And do not think I have forgotten** _ **your**_ **debt, little prince. You shall** _ **both**_ **pay today** ," a smile crossed his bluish face as he said in a dark tone that made Loki want to run and hide, " _ **With your lives**_ _."_

Loki attempted to abject, but his voice was caught in his throat by the tight grip of fear that surrounded it, and he felt like he wanted to wretch but he kept himself in check as Thanos backed up, disappearing behind the balcony and leaving Thor and Loki standing next to each other, looking around in confusion. "Where did he go?" Thor asked, as Loki took a few steps backward, as his eyes darted around in fear. Thor continued looking up toward the balcony, the snarl never vanishing from his face as he hissed, " _Loki_ , watch your back!"

Loki nodded, swallowing hard as he took a few more sly steps backward in an attempt to make himself less of a target; in all actuality he hoped that his brother would be the primary target. And that's when he heard it, there was a noise from behind him; he felt the presence before he saw it, it sent his hair standing on end and gooseflesh crossing his skin, and he spun around just in time to see a slimy, odd-fingered hand close around his throat. He opened his mouth to scream for his brother, but the sound was crushed and never had the chance to escape his throat as the hand around it tightened even further; his lungs burning and the pressure in his head began building to an excruciating level. He felt the heat emanating from the Other's fingers, spreading through his veins like liquid fire, and he squirmed and kicked, opening his mouth for a silent scream as it coursed through him; he could feel it pooling in his head, worming its way into his brain and he tried as hard as he could to block it out, to use his magic to defend against it. This wasn't what he wanted! He couldn't have this happen again, not now! He focused all of is magic to defend against it, but in the end he wavered, and in a moment it had broken through, and then his whole body was on fire for just a moment. Wiping all rational thought from his mind, before it was gone, a tingle in his eyes for just a second, and then he no longer wished to struggle and his body stilled. The Other set him down slowly, lowering him to his feet, and then Loki stood before him.

"Loki?" Thor called, and when he received no answer it was only then that he turned around to see his brother, and a disgusting creature in front of him. He yelled immediately, "Loki! Back away!" And he watched in worry as Loki did not listen. He simply stood there, staring at the creature in front of him, the fight and worry gone from him.

The Other bent down and whispered to Loki, " _End him. He is in the way of our victory_."

" _Loki_!" Thor called, as he took a few steps toward them, but hesitated as the Other disappeared in a puff of gray smoke. Thor blinked a few times as the smoke cleared, and he looked at Loki peculiarly. Something in his gut told him that something was wrong, and a terrible feeling began curling in his chest as he called, "Loki?" He drawled, watching as Loki bent down, wrapping a hand around his dropped scepter, before standing back up slowly, and turning to his elder brother.

Their eyes met instantly; Thor's face squinted in confusion and worry, Loki's face devoid of emotion and blank. And that's when Thor caught it; Loki's eyes were no longer their beautiful green, but a sickly blue that he had recognized from the events at Avengers tower awhile ago. The same sickly blue that emanated from the tesseract, and Thanos' eyes.

" _Loki?_ " Thor asked once more, taking a tentative step toward his younger brother, hand outstretched, searching Loki's eyes for the cause of his peculiar behavior.

And in a second, Loki struck out with a roar, his scepter swinging with a swish of wind, and Thor had mere moments to throw himself backward, bringing his stomach in as far as possible as the blade passed him. He felt the blade brush against his armor, the scraping sound unmistakable, and he looked at Loki horrified as he readjusted his footing. " _Loki_!" He bellowed, "What are you _doing_? Do you not remember our agreement?" Thor attempted to reason, but Loki simply laughed at him, smiling and striking again, bringing his blade downward over Thor's head, and with effort Thor sidestepped, the blade missing his shoulder by mere inches. "You should have known better than to trust me, _you_ _fool_." Loki said, and Thor realized that Loki was intent on attacking him, and there would be no swaying him, so his hand immediately went to his belt, searching and finding Mjolnir's familiar handle, pulling her from her place on his belt and swinger her upwards to deflect another vicious swipe of Loki's scepter; the weapons connected with force, sending sparks flying in every direction and the force of Loki's blow Thor was unprepared for, and it sent him stumbling. Loki took advantage of this immediately; reeling back his scepter, and forcing his magic into it, the orb in the tip glowing for just a second before releasing it's power in a blast, aimed directly at the God of Thunder. Thor noticed it a second to late, and the blast struck him in the side as he attempted to jump out of the way.

The sheer power of the blast sent him flying backward, and his spine struck one of the many pipes lining the metal walls, knocking the wind from him, and with a thud he landed heavily on the grated floor, wincing at how hot the floor had become, and the burning sensation that surged up his side from where the blast had connected. Loki walked over to his brother's fallen form, and Thor watched as a large smile crossed his face. Thor struggled to his feet, tripping over himself as he wailed, "Loki! You would betray me for _them_? _Again_ , even after what we've been through the last couple days?"

Thor rolled to the right to avoid another swipe of Loki's blade, awaiting his younger brother's response; but he received none as Loki swung his blade once more, but this time Thor tried a different approach. He dodged the blade, but grabbed the shaft of the scepter, yanking it hard, sending Loki, who was unprepared, flying toward him with a squeal of surprise. He let go of Loki's scepter, releasing it back to Loki, who still had a firm grip on the handle, and then took his free right hand, wrapping it around the back of his brother's neck in the common affectionate way he had done so many times in the past. "Loki," Thor started, gazing into his brother's eyes, the color of which was very odd, yet familiar at the same time, and then it began to piece itself together in his mind. Thor then continued in a frantic tone, " _Loki_ , you must realize this is not what you want! They have a hold of your _mind_ , Loki you _must_ realize this!"

There was a laugh from Loki as he said, "I think _you're_ quite mistaken brother, this _is_ what I want; it's what I've been striving for _all_ this time! Midgard, all the nine realms, the throne of Asgard!"

"No Loki, it is not! They have your mind Loki, it is not your own! You've dealt with this before, remember? For God's sake, you already have most of those things!" Thor asked him, searching the glazed, feverish eyes for any signs of his brother. And Thor was correct, Loki was in this state when he attacked Manhattan before; he hoped that this time however, Loki would be able to recognize it and perhaps fight back. Thor did not wish to fight his brother, but Loki was giving him no choice now.

Loki simply laughed at him, shaking his head and spitting, "You are so _naive_ , Thor!"

Thor's hand was violently ripped from Loki's person, as his younger brother attacked once more.  
" _Damn it_!" Thor cried as he deflected another blow, his mind racing as he struggled to find a to help his brother, since his inherent pleading was not working. Loki howled in frustration, sending another blast at him. Thor was prepared for it, however, and he dodged the blow easily, body twisting as he righted himself to face Loki, his side twinging in pain where Loki's previous blast had struck him. And finally Thor sighed, defeated, looking back up at Loki with hurt in his eyes as he said, "Alright brother, you have given me no choice!"

Loki simply laughed.

Thor ran toward Loki, who was taken aback by the sudden tactic change. Thor swung Mjolnir deliberately, with the weight of his body behind it. Loki, who had been mostly unprepared for Thor's sudden offensiveness brought his scepter up, gripping it with both hands and blocking the strike of Thor's hammer, but Thor smiled, that was what he had wanted. He took the exact moment to send the lightning charge throughout Mjolnir, and Loki's golden scepter acted as a conductor, the charge traveling through the scepter immediately and up Loki's arms into his body, charging through him at an alarming speed, and Thor watched as Loki cried out in pain and surprise as his body shook violently for a few moments before he was finally able to break away, stumbling and landing on a knee as his disoriented body failed to hold him properly. Thor shook his head saying, "I'm sorry brother," before he pulled back Mjolnir, and swung it forth with such force that he feared he'd done _too_ much damage as it connected with the side of Loki's head.

Thor heard the crack from where he was standing as Loki dropped the scepter and his body was flung sideways. He flew quickly with the force of the blow; the first thing to strike the ground was his head, as his neck bent at an awkward angle as his body kept going, flying over itself in a tumble before he struck the wall heavily, his head striking the wall as landing on his stomach, forehead bumping off the grate on the ground as he lay there limply.

For a moment a fear Thor had experienced only thrice before coursed through him as the thought of maybe he had killed his brother crossed through his mind. But then he saw Loki stir, lifting his head from the floor with a hiss, pulling himself into a crouching position with difficulty, his hand coming up to the side of his head where Mjolnir had struck him. Thor saw blue, a blue liquid dripping through the grate and into the lava below, and the same blue liquid was dripping down the side of Loki's face and ear, coating some of his hair, and Thor noticed with surprise that it was blood. It was Loki's blood.

Mjolnir had broken the skin on Loki's head, and the blood dripped from the wound as he winced when he touched it gently, and the hot floor had burned the side of his forehead slightly, and he winced at the heat that radiated from the burn.

" _Loki_?" Thor called hesitantly, cautiously, as he watched Loki with interest, hoping, praying, that it had worked .

Loki heard his name being called, and as the fog that had been in his mind dissipated, being replaced by his own thoughts as the pain radiated through his head. He held up a shaky hand quickly, saying, "I am fine now brother, stand down."

"Loki," Thor breathed, rushing over too his younger brother, "I am sorry brother I wished not to hurt you."

"I know." Was Loki's short answer, as he shook his aching head gently to speed the clearing of the fogginess as they heard movement above once more. Thor gripped Loki's arm, hauling his younger brother to his feet, who had a tight grip on his scepter as he steadied himself. Their eyes traveled back upwards, toward the balcony, where two figures stood side by side. Thanos stood to the left, and the Other, to his right. Thanos looked irritated as he said, " **I see you have educated yourself, God of Thunder**." It was more of a statement to himself than a question, but he turned to the Other and said in a voice filled with irritation and malice, " **You have failed yet again. I grow tired of the God of Mischief. Do you not remember I saved you from a rather...** _ **unsightly demise,**_ **did I not?** N **ow get down there and end them, or** _ **I**_ **will end** _ **you, and take back the life you borrow from me**_ **.** "

With a quick nod of his head and a bow, the Other was gone once more in a poof of smoke. This time however, the Mad Titan stayed rooted to the spot, and Thor knew that he planned to watch them. Loki gazed up at the Titan now, but this time he held no fear. He would not be afraid anymore; Thor had helped him, and they were together now.

Loki was no longer afraid of Thanos, the Mad Titan.

The Other then materialized in front of them, his odd-fingered hand gripping the hilt of a blade at his side. Loki turned to Thor, who realized with joy that his brother's eyes were back to their natural emerald shade, and said in a hushed voice, "He's coming for us, Thor."

"I know Loki. Stand ready, we _will not_ falter."

Loki sighed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, before reopening them and gripping his scepter just a little bit tighter. The Other's voice echoed across the room in an eerie, blood curdling type of way as he said, _"You both shall bleed and die here. Now kneel and worship Thanos, the Mad Titan."_

"Loki...bows to _no one_." Loki's voice rang out in Thor's ears as his older brother tilted his head to look at him. The Other wasted no more time with talking. The three of them walked to the center of the room, glancing at one another as Loki turned to Thor and said, "Be safe, brother."

"And you as well, Loki."

Loki smiled, a real smile, for what seemed to him like the first time in ages, and for the first time in awhile, he felt a happiness and a sense of belonging he had forgot he possessed the capacity to feel. He turned to his brother and said, "Let us finish this...Brother. _Together_."

The next few moments were lost to both of them. It was a jumble of weapons and limbs and movement as the Other attacked. Loki was the first to deflect a blow, the blade of the Other's sword sliding effortlessly down the shaft, as he pushed it away and took a tentative jump backwards. Thor was next as the other pivoted from the point of Loki's deflection and swung his blade downward in an arc toward the God of Thunder. Instead of dodging Thor brought Mjolnir up to meet his attackers weapon. Sparks flew in every direction and Loki shielded his face as the weapons connected, the electric charge that Mjolnir always carried sent out arcs of lightning, as the other pulled away swiftly, but had no time to react as Loki charged forward to assist his brother.

Instead of bringing the scepter downward, Loki swung it upward, the hook of the blade catching the Other's foot as it swung, bringing his left leg out from under him and sending him toppling to the floor.

"Thor, _now_!"

Thor turned, bringing Mjolnir down with the force of his body, but it struck merely metal as the Other rolled away milliseconds before the hammer struck. "Blast!" Loki cursed, fist clenched in anger as Thor ran toward their opponent once more. This time however, he stopped a few feet away, letting Mjolnir loose in a vicious throw. The hammer barreled toward the Other at incredible speed, but he simply ducked, laughing at the pitiful attack; but then it was Loki who was laughing, for a few seconds later, the hammer came back, striking the Other powerfully in the back of the head, the crack of the blow loud enough to fill both brother's ears as Thor caught his hammer gracefully, smiling over at Loki as the Other dropped to his knees hissing in pain, awkward hands clutching the back of his head in pain.

Thor however did not wish to give him a chance to recover. He was upon the creature in a moment, his hammer swinging downward with incredible force. But he was unprepared when the Other's leg shot out in front of him, swiping Thor's feet out from under him and sending him dropping to the floor with a thud, and he landed awkwardly on his arm. Immediately Loki ran toward them, attempting to draw the Other's attention away from his brother, but he was thrown backwards with a magical force as he approached. He landed on his feet this time, and came back again, sending a magical blast from his scepter toward the Other.

The Other jumped backward, extending a hand to raise a magical barrier, as the blast simply went around him. "Brother, are you alright?" Loki asked as he gripped Thor's hand, pulling him to his feet. Thor shook himself, not unlike a dog as he responded, "Fine, thanks." Loki nodded as they turned back to their target, but what filled Loki's vision was not the Other but a large blast of magic. It struck him with such force he almost tumbled over, but he righted himself, and was ready to laugh, when he felt the burning on his skin.

Thor jumped, startled, as the screaming began almost instantaneously. Loki was thrashing now, unsure of what to do as the pain began spreading across his entire body, creeping over every inch of exposed skin and heating up the metal of his armor to an almost excruciating level. Thor watched in horror as Loki began thrashing about, his entire body encased in flames. Loki's screams reverberated off the walls as Thor rushed to him, trying to still him yelling, "Loki, Loki! Be still!" His mind raced as he tried to figure out how to help his brother as he grabbed Loki swiftly with an arm around the stomach, before he took his own cape, pressing it too Loki repeatedly as he smothered the flames.

After they were put out Loki calmed himself, hissing in pain and probably in fright Thor guessed, but he immediately turned his attention back to the Other, who had taken this moment to get behind Loki. In an instant Thor's hand grasped Loki by the wrist, and in one swift movement he pulled hard, bending down and rolling his little brother over his shoulders and onto the other side of himself, just as the Other's blade pierced the air where Loki had been moments before.

" _Ah_ , Thor!"

"Pay attention Loki!"

Loki turned back to his brother as his dizziness faded, and sure enough his brother was once again clashing with the Other. Loki realized then that Thor had saved him from a blade through the chest. Loki snickered; this was going to hell. Loki went to run and help Thor, but as he took a few steps he was hit with a wave of vertigo, and suddenly he realized, he was sweating. He was sweating profusely and a nauseous feeling was building in his gut, and his body was caked in sweat. A heat flash shivered through his body as he tried to regain his senses. The room was heating up, he realized, and it was beginning to wear him down, his endless pool of stamina draining quicker than usual. He shook his head when Thor called his name, and threw himself back into play without a moments hesitation. He blocked a blow from the sword to allow his brother to escape, before he himself , with a twist of his body, jumped back a few feet giving themselves space between them and the Other who was advancing steadily now, face set and ready to finish this. Loki turned to Thor quickly, "Distract him!"

Thor nodded, but gave him a questioning look, so Loki answered, "I have an idea."

Thor nodded once more, running back into the fray with a battle roar, swinging Mjolnir about in a haphazard way, and in the process confusing the Other and causing him to back away quickly. Loki took his moment of reprieve to summon the book of Hel, which landed easily into his hands as he opened it as quickly as possible. He pulled the ancient quill from it's place in the back of the book, and he whispered 'The Other'. It flipped immediately to his page, and Loki spotted the name written neatly within the lines of the book, and he gazed back up at Thor and the Other, who had a horrified look on his face, and then Loki smiled; it stretched across his face almost in slow motion and the Other let out a vicious scream as Loki's right hand glided across the page almost effortlessly. And then it was done. The Other began screaming and writhing in agony, and Thor backed away immediately, confused and a little frightened, before he turned and saw Loki, and what Loki was holding.

Loki watched with a triumphant smile on his face as the Other dropped to his knees hissing, " _I guess you were right after all, little prince,"_ and then he dropped face down, dead eyes staring off into space as the life left his body.

Before they could celebrate their victory however, their was an infuriated roar of rage from above, and before Loki could turn his gaze to the balcony, there was a rush of air, and the floor shook tremendously as two large armored boots landing heavily in front him. He barely had time to gaze up and catch a glimpse of a square bluish face before something struck him so hard he saw stars, and his body went flying as he dropped the book; he felt the pain explode in his back and neck as he struck the stacked crates, toppling them over and falling to the ground, one of them landing on his ribcage and falling to the side. He curled up into himself as he struggled to breathe, gasping in pain as his body shook with the force of it.

Thor howled in rage as he ran toward Thanos, furious at what the Titan had done to his brother. Thor raised Mjolnir in his rage, and brought it down in fury. But Thanos grabbed Thor by the forearm, and Thor could feel the bones creaking under the strong grip as he gasped in pain. Thanos shook his head at him scornfully, as Thor tried desperately to remove his arm from the Titan's grip, but he was unsuccessful. In a swift motion, Thanos lifted Thor from the ground as he struggled, sighed in irritation, and tossed him aside like a child's toy. Thor hit the ground hard, and he felt his shoulder snap as it dislocated and he rolled over onto his back. " _Gah_!" He screamed in pain as it shot up through his shoulder and into his head. He turned over onto his stomach, using his good left arm to get onto his hands and knees as he looked over to see Thanos walking toward him; his eyes boring into him like lasers; but Thor simply looked at him with nothing but rage and anger in his eyes.

He refused to give Thanos the satisfaction of seeing his pain and fear.

" _Aghhh_ ," Loki groaned as he clutched at his stomach, the pain of a broken rib surging through him with every shallow breath. When he managed to refocus his eyes, he caught sight of the Mad Titan, walking menacingly toward his downed older brother. " _Damn_ ," Loki cursed as he struggled to his feet, the pain skyrocketing through him from his side. The heat had made him so weak, and all he wanted to do was go to sleep; but he knew he couldn't. He could not fail this time. He scrambled to his feet, grasping his scepter and making a mad scramble toward Thanos as the Titan bent down to end his brother.

* * *

"Yeah!" Tony cheered as the last leviathan crashed down toward the streets, taking with it a big chunk of building and crushing quite a few cars on the way, ripping up the asphalt of the road. Hulk jumped off of it's head as it struck the ground, landing with a crash on the hood of a car and stepping down onto the pavement. Tony lowered the power of his repulsors, and lowered himself to the ground as he regrouped with Steve, Frigga, Odin, and Laufey.

He landed with a thud.

Steve immediately began talking in a rushed tone saying, "They've been up there way to long."

Tony agreed, "They haven't had any contact with us since they went in. Something doesn't feel right." Odin and Laufey looked at each other with worried eyes as they turned to Steve and Tony, "Then we must go and retrieve our sons." Laufey huffed when he realized that they had said it at the same time, and he turned away feigning irritation and crossing his arms as Odin simply continued to speak, "If there is something dangerous in there, then they _both_ may be in life threatening trouble...and we are not about to lose our sons... _again_."

Steve nodded, "I agree. They're vital members to this team too. _We_ wouldn't want anything to happen to them either."

There was a long stretch of silence as they all looked upward toward the sky, at the ship that hovered like an ominous cloud over the city, casting a shadow so large that a large chunk of the city was shaded. Tony turned to them and said, "I've already found a way in, but I doubt we could use it. It seems like they were discovered, so I wouldn't be surprised if they closed that up."

Laufey was the one who spoke next when he said, "We should take that thing in the sky down."

"With them upon it?!" Frigga exclaimed, hoping that her husband would abject also, and defend her stance. But to her surprise and horror, he did exactly the opposite. Odin cleared his throat, considering carefully what Laufey had said, gazing up at the ship in the sky, mind searching for every possible solution before he sighed, and agreed, "You are correct, Laufey. We need to bring it down."

" _Sweet!_ " Tony exclaimed, receiving a very nasty look from Frigga and Steve both, who shook their heads disapprovingly. He simply rolled his eyes and huffed in their direction, continuing to listen as they discussed several courses of action, and Tony simply stopped listening. They had taken down all of the leviathans, with the much needed help of the Hulk, who had showed up at the last minute to assist their fight. There were still an uncountable number of Chitauri still in the streets and on the rooftops; and Tony's first hypothesis was that if they took the ship down, which is where whatever was controlling the Chitauri was located, then the rest of the Chitauri would fall with it. And Tony could not deny that they were all running out of steam. They had too end this, and soon.

He sighed loudly enough to gather everyone's attention, before he spoke, "See those up there?" Tony motioned with a finger, eyes gazing at what resembled two large thrusters, on either side of the oddly shaped ship. "I took some scans of em', and those," He motioned once more to make sure he hadn't lost anyone, "I think those are what's keeping our buddy's afloat up there. We take both, or even one of those down, and our ship'll come crashing down."

"But we don't want to hurt them!" Frigga exclaimed, suddenly very worried by what Tony had said. Tony nodded, putting a heavy iron hand on her shoulder comfortingly before he said, "If we take down one, it'll take the ship down with just enough cushioning that they should survive the impact."

" _Should_?" Frigga turned to Odin, "Odin you can't possibly be considering this!"

"Calm yourself, woman." Odin said to her not unkindly, "I do not wish to kill our children anymore than you do. They are grown warriors, and they will be fine. Right now, ending this war is what is most important." Odin then turned to Laufey, and they nodded at each other in agreement; he then turned to Tony and said, "Okay. Take out the thruster Man of Iron."

"Yes _sir!_ " Tony nodded, looking around. He couldn't destroy the whole thruster by himself. He'd need help. He turned to look up at the rooftop across from them. He spied Hawkeye and Widow immediately, and he smiled as he turned said over the comm-link, "Hawkeye, you copy?"

"Yep." Was the overly cheery reply.

"Okay, you got any explody arrows left in there?"

"Yep."

"Okay then. See that thruster up there on the right? When I give you the signal, I need you to aim and shoot it in right in the middle, alright?" Tony sighed, gazing as Hawkeye gave him a thumbs up and another 'yep'. He then turned back to the others saying, "I'll do my best to bring em' down easy. You guys be ready to get in there and extract them when that thing comes down, got it?" He received several nods, and he nodded in return, before activating his repulsors, and taking off into the sky.

Laufey watched the Man of Iron fly off toward the odd ship with cold red eyes; he wondered vaguely if there was any other course of action they might take. He knew that his son was in there, but he really felt nothing about it. He could not comprehend the way the Asgardians showed their type of affections. He felt that if his son was truly worth being called his son, then he would make it through the crash. If not...then he was better of dead because he was not Jotunn. Laufey was not completely cold-hearted; it was just how he was raised by his father, and his father's father before. It was simply tradition. The All-Father spoke then, his voice soft but firm as he said, "They will be fine." And then with that he walked away, heading toward the end of the street.

Laufey looked over toward Frigga as he heard the gentle sob. But when he saw her eyes there were no tears. Her face betrayed the pain she however, and Laufey was unsure of what do. So he bent down slightly, hesitantly placing a large, cold, hand on Frigga's shoulder. He said with a voice that was deep and gruff, "I am positive they are both fine. They are strong fighters. They rival even the best of Jotunheim." Frigga seemed to take comfort in his words, and she steeled her face, looking up at him with stunning icy blue eyes as she said, "Thank you, Laufey."

It was then that Wanda and Quicksilver rejoined them. Wanda immediately ran over to Frigga, embracing her in a tight hug as she whispered, "Are they back yet?"

"No. We're trying to help them." Was Frigga's answer.

They both embraced as they awaited the news they really didn't want to hear.

* * *

Tony hovered near the thrusters, careful not to get caught within them. He circled around it, looking carefully to find a weak spot in the build; but this was not like the helicarrier or anything Tony had seen before. It was so thoroughly made that Tony found not even one weak point in the make of it; the metals it consisted of Tony doubted were even present on Earth. The power was also unbelievable, and it was becoming difficult to keep himself from being sucked into the thruster itself and burned to a crisp.

It was powered by something Tony couldn't see clearly and it emanated a blue light, but he guessed it was some type of alien electricity or something. Finally he made a decision, and began waving his right arm over his head. Hawkeye spotted him almost instantly, drawing his arrow and taking careful aim where Tony's hand was pointing. Directly in the middle of the thruster. Hawkeye assumed that Tony thought that maybe the explosive would be sucked into and cycled through the thruster itself, and they could blow it off from the inside. It was a smart idea. In a moment he loosed the arrow, and it went flying through the air at increasingly high speeds.

Tony moved backward just slightly as the arrow zipped by him, straight into the thruster. Tony immediately released a rocket into the thruster right behind Hawkeye's explosive. He then twisted his body, putting his repulsors at the highest power possible and speeding away from the ship, hearing the explosion coming from behind him.

* * *

Thanos' body turned as Loki neared it, and with one hand he grabbed the scepter, and in the other...Loki's throat. The pressure was immediate, and Loki thought for a moment his neck might snap under it as he felt the bruises surfacing under the Titan's hand. He remembered the thought that this was the end crossing his mind and the thought perhaps they had failed, and Thanos would make good on his promise to kill him. Thor looked up from his position on the ground, as Thanos began squeezing the very life out of his younger brother. Thor was up in a second, reaching for Thanos' wrist, attempting to pull it from his little brother's throat. Loki was making strange strangled noises, and kicking his legs in all directions. And then there was an exploding pain in his abdomen as the tip of Loki's scepter entered his stomach. He emitted a cry of pain as he backed away immediately, stopping the blade from injuring him any further; the blood seeped through his fingers as he bent over in pain, before pushing himself and going back to his brother's aid.

The pressure in Loki's head was unbearable, and his eyes felt like they might explode. His lungs were burning and his legs had slowed their kicking considerably. He felt his consciousness fading, and his eyes began fluttering; the heat had made him weak.

It was then that a large cracking, booming sound, and then the ship shook violently. Thor was thrown off his feet immediately, and Thanos lost his balance also and dropped Loki and the scepter to the floor as he stumbled backward. Loki immediately took several gasping breaths, taking in gulps of air as his lungs filled and his consciousness returned to him. He reached out slowly, hand wrapping around the scepter, other hand wrapping around his older brothers as he was helped to his feet.

"Loki! Are you alright, brother?" Thor asked, gazing at his brother with deep concern. But Loki was not concerned with himself as he saw the blood dripping from Thor's midsection. "Forget about me brother, what of you?"

"I am fine, Loki. Let us just hurry and _end this_."

Loki could not agree more. Thanos was stumbling to his feet, as the ship shook once more, and then Thor and Loki were upon him. Thor threw his hammer, Mjolnir flying from his hand toward the Titan's face, but Thanos easily dodged it, with a chuckle, and then ducked as he knew Mjolnir would be coming back toward him from behind. But what he did not expect was Loki's knee, coming up to meet his chin as he ducked. Thor heard the crashing of teeth at the impact as he caught Mjolnir with his good hand, bringing it down on Thanos' head with force, and then Loki brought up his leg and it connected with the Mad Titan's midsection, sending him flying backward.

" _Huzzah_!" Thor exclaimed, "Keep going Loki, it is almost over!"

Then the ship began tilting. Loki's eyes widened as the ship took a turn to one side. "Loki, look out!" Loki turned immediately following his brother's gaze, to see the crate's hurtling toward them. Loki dove out of the way seconds before they crashed down toward where Thanos had landed against the wall.

"Oh no," Loki breathed, as he watched the lava begin to seep out from the grated floor. "Thor, stay away from that side of the ship. _The lava_!"

Thor nodded in agreement. Then there was a roar of rage from Thanos as he trudged up the now heavily tilted floor. " **You annoying pathetic** _ **worms**_!"

"We're going down, brace yourself!" Loki said to Thor. Thor was aware, before he then turned back to Thanos. Thanos continued his mad ranting, " **You traitorous, idiotic, incompetent** _ **fool**_ **! You cannot even** _ **die**_ **correctly!** " Loki winced at the words, but smiled as Thanos trudged up a little faster, eager to get away from the lava that was pooling near the wall. " _ **I'll end you with my bare hands!**_ "

Loki pulled his scepter backward, forcing magic through it once more, the tip glowing for just a second before he released it, the blast of energy flying toward the Titan at a high speed. But Thanos simply moved out of the way, before squatting and taking a mighty leap. He landed heavily in front of Thor, pulling back a fist and striking the God of Thunder in the nose. Their was a cracking sound and Loki cringed and knew immediately that his brother's nose had been broken, and Thor's head snapped backward at the force. But Thor did not give him the chance to strike him again. Within moments he responded, throwing his own fist in the Titan's direction, but his fist was merely grabbed in an oversized blue hand, and the crunching that followed made Loki cringe as Thor screamed out in pain.

Loki gripped his scepter, twirling in a moment, and then striking with the blade of his scepter toward Thanos. The Mad Titan simply scoffed, catching the blade with his free hand; but the air was soon filled with horrified screams. Loki had created a double that had struck Thanos, while the real Loki had taken the opportunity to bring his scepter down upon the arm the held Thor's hand in a death grip. Blood was sprayed in all directions in seconds, and Thor and Loki were splashed with it as Thanos stumbled away, almost loosing his footing and tumbling down into the awaiting lava, but they were not so lucky. A large blue hand hit the grated floor, sliding down and away as Thanos clutched the stump of his right had in agony.

He looked at where his hand had used to be, the blood spraying from the open wound, his eyes widened in disbelief at the extent of the injury. He looked up in rage, grabbing the Other's blade, which had been imbedded in the grate earlier with his left hand, walking toward them menacingly, his already disgusting face twisted further into a horror mask of rage and fury. Thor held his broken hand to his chest gently, gripping Mjolnir's handle with his other, as Thanos brought the blade down with a quick swipe. Thor blocked the blade with a whack from Mjolnir, sending the blade bouncing away.

Thanos was quick to attack again, this time with a low swipe, aiming at Thor's stomach. But Loki watched as Thor sucked in his belly, taking a step backward. Thanos howled in rage again, swinging his blade haphazardly toward Thor's upper bicep; however he left himself open to attack and Loki saw it. Loki took advantage immediately; but instead of using his scepter, Loki used a weapon he hadn't touched in a very long time. His hand wrapped around the handle of the ornate dagger in his belt; it had been given to him as a gift from his father, much like Thor's hammer. It's blade never dulled and it was imbued with his own seidr. It never missed it's mark. He pulled it out with a metallic clink and in quick succession, he thrust it forward. All of the anger and rage that he held toward the Titan was put into his thrusts, as he felt the blade connect with flesh. He repeated it over and over, and he got in five or six quick stabs before he felt Thanos' foot connect with shin.

Loki attempted to maneuver away but was unsuccessful as the Titan's foot connected with his shin, and he stepped backward but not far enough, and he heard the snap before he felt it. It felt as if he'd been socked in the gut, and the breath left him as he began to feel the tremendous pain the coursed through his body, radiating from his right ankle. He took another wobbly step back, sheathing his dagger as Thor took the opening Loki had given him to strike Thanos in the chest with Mjolnir, sending a powerful electric charge into the Mad Titan.

Thanos screamed out, either in pain or fury Loki did not know, but before he could do anything else, he heard the impact and everyone was jolted from their position. The ship tilted even further, to an impossible angle and the lave was now covering almost the entire wall in front of them as they scrambled madly backward, gripping at the grated floor to keep from tumbling downward toward the lava. Thanos, who was still recovering from the shock of Loki's stabs and Thor's electrocution, caught his boot on the grate and stumbled backward, screaming. Before Loki could figure out what was happening Thor was grabbing him around the waist, swinging his hammer round and round with his broken hand in a pace to fast for his eyes to keep track of, face contorted in pain; and then the ground was gone beneath Loki's feet. They barreled toward the wall at an alarming speed, and Loki felt Thor pull his head downward toward his older brother's chest, and he suddenly felt pressure and an unbelievable crash of metal. The impact that came next knocked the wind out of Loki as he was wrenched from his brother's grasp, and he felt his body crash through something hard as he tumbled over himself multiple times; and he felt glass cutting him as he rolled, and finally he came to a stop.

He opened his eyes immediately, and found himself staring at the ceiling of a building. His eyes were open wide and he was trying his best to steady his breathing. The pain that coursed through every fiber of his being made even the slightest movement difficult; and then his ears were filled with a crash and explosion so loud that his ears rang and he thought he might have gone deaf. There was dust in the air and the ringing in his ears slowly subsided as he heard a groan of pain emanate from his left. He turned his head as his body protested in soreness and pain, and he caught sight of Thor, laying in a heap a few feet to his left, and Loki guessed that Thor had just rolled a little bit further than he had. He took a slow, deep breath, and began to shift as he crawled over to his brother.

* * *

Frigga and Wanda watched in horror as the ship crashed down into the street, the front half exploding on impact. Laufey held them both securely by each arm, and they waited until the dust in the air finally settled, and the ship and finally stopped sliding and lay still in a smoking heap upon the concrete, an orange liquid seeping out from the wreckage and spreading out onto the sidewalk, hardening and turning gray as it went. After a few more moments, Laufey reluctantly released them, and the moment they were free they went running like madwomen toward the wreckage.

They passed Odin, who walked at a steady pace toward it, and Laufey need only take a few strides to stand next to the All-Father. Frigga and Wanda joined them in a moment, and they stood there for a few moments in silence as they all watched the wreckage with interest. "Where are they?" Frigga whispered, gazing at Odin with a worried look on her face, as Steve approached and Tony landed not far behind. Hulk stood near the wreckage, lifting a large chunk of metal and peering underneath it. And it was then that they saw movement near the side of the ship. A few large chunks of metal fell out of place, and a large figure came stumbling out of the wreckage.

Laufey listened to the large sob that followed as Frigga clasped a hand to her mouth in horror. Before them stood not Thor and Loki, but Thanos, the Mad Titan. Odin summoned Gungnir to himself immediately, and Laufey wasted no time in summoning a sword of ice. Frigga also withdrew her blade, and Steve and Tony prepared themselves for an attack.

As the Titan came closer, footwork clumsy and stumbling, the saw the exact extent of his injuries. His right hand was nothing but a mere bloody stump, the bone exposed and pieces of muscle and sinew hanging from it; his midsection was bleeding heavily in what appeared to be multiple stab wounds, and a large portion of his body was incredibly burned. He limped heavily and Laufey could smell the blood. Laufey could tell that he was extremely weak and injured...an easy target.

Thanos managed to get a good distance away from the ship, before dropping to his knees before the group. Odin's voice rang out immediately as he pointed Gungnir toward the fallen Titan, who looked up at them with anger in his eyes, "Thanos, the Mad Titan, yield immediately and you shall not be harmed."

There was a long stretch of silence, and Laufey could see the wheels turning in his head; debating whether or not it was in his best interest to fight; his forces were defeated, he was severely injured, and he had no backup. In the end he sighed defeated, and held up his good hand palm toward them. He said in a voice that was cracked, " **Okay, I surrender."**

When Laufey looked down at the Queen of Asgard, there were tears in her eyes as she whispered, "They're not coming are they? My sons?" Laufey stayed silent as he did not know how to answer her. He searched the wreckage with his eyes for any signs of their sons, but found none. He knew not how to comfort her, so he stayed silent and looked toward the All-Father, who gazed at all the carnage around them, and then at the Mad Titan. He then turned to Laufey himself, nodding and turning back to Thanos before speaking, his voice ringing clearer than it had been in a long while, "Thanos, the Mad Titan, from the Titan moon; you have committed grave crimes against the nine realms and it's people. You have committed an act of war against a primitive planet, and you have murdered two princes of Asgard and many others. What say you in your defense?"

Suddenly there was noise from behind and a familiar, velvet voice ran out over them, "I think you've made a mistake with that statement."

And then all heads were turning. There before them was Thor and Loki. Loki had an arm around Thor neck for support, and they hobbled toward the group slowly; the others realized that they had emerged from a building across the street. Frigga gasped at the sight of her boys. Loki obviously had a leg injury as he hobbled along with the help of his brother; and he had numerous cuts, bruises, and burns. Thor also looked rather terrible, with bruises, cuts, and his right hand was terribly bruised. But Loki's face still held a charming smile as they approached.

In seconds Wanda was running, and when they ran into each other Loki let out a cry of pain as she wrapped her arms around him hugging him tightly and beginning to sob when she felt his arms wrap gently around her. Thor laughed then, and Frigga ran to him next, embracing her eldest son, before turning to Loki and embracing him as Wanda let him go. "Oh my precious boys, you're alright!"

"We're fine, mother, I assure you." Thor said, hugging her once more. It was then that Wanda took the opportunity to strike Loki hard, on the cheek. He yelped in surprise, before he grabbed her by the head and kissed her passionately. When they finally parted, she whispered, "I thought I lost you."

"I told you I had no plans of dying today."

" _Let's never do this again_."

Loki laughed, before limping forward toward Odin, Laufey, and Thanos. Odin sighed audibly stepping backward and lowering Gungnir as Loki raised his scepter, pointing the tip at Thanos' throat as he said in a tone of confidence and jest, "Thanos, The Mad Titan from the Titan Moon, you have committed crimes against Asgard, Midgard, Jotunheim, and all the nine realms. You have committed acts of war, and have murdered countless innocents. You attempted to extort a prince of Asgard, and attempted an act on my life, and my brother's. What say you, in your defense?"

There was another long stretch of silence before Thanos said, " **I say nothing in my defense. I surrender."**

Loki smiled as he turned to look at Odin, Frigga, Laufey, and then Thor and Wanda. He received nods from all of them. And then he said, "As the King of Asgard, I speak for my kingdom as well as my allies; you will be taken to maximum security prison in the realm of Asgard to await sentencing by not only Asgard, but every realm you have wronged today. From this day forth, you are now a war criminal and a prisoner of Asgard." Loki then turned to a group of Einherjar signaling them to Thanos, "Take him back to Asgard immediately," He waited a few moments before sighing and saying, "And tend to his wounds." Loki then turned to Thanos as they were taking him away, "Do not forget that you have received Loki's mercy undeserved today."

They all watched as the Mad Titan was taken away, and the beam of the Bifrost came down, and vanished just as quickly. It was then that Spider-Man, Natasha, and Hawkeye finally rejoined their group on the ground along with Quicksilver. Thor turned back to Loki, smiling at him in exhaustion and saying with a hollow laugh, "I guess we did it, huh, brother?"

"I guess we did... _brother."_ This time Loki did not say it with venom in his voice, but with a tone of acceptance. Then they embraced, and after a moment Loki burst into laughter. "What are you laughing at?" Thor asked as he squeezed his little brother. Loki laughed once more before he asked, "Are we...are we _hugging_?"

"I guess so, little brother. I guess so."

They then released each other, taking a few painful steps back. Loki was startled however when he felt a cold heavy hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Laufey behind him, looking down at him with intense red eyes, and a mixture of emotions coursed through Loki as Laufey said, "Congratulations...my son."

Loki went to respond before he was pulled aside by Odin, who until then had held Gungnir, reached over and patted him on the shoulder; he did not speak however, and Loki didn't expect him too. His old, tired gaze said it all, and Loki nodded toward him before whispering, " _Father_." He could see the tears glistening in the old man's eyes, and he smiled as he turned to the gathering crowd, and he raised his scepter, and was meant with thundering cheers of the exhausted army. He then turned to the Avengers, the ones who had been by his side the whole time, the ones whom he had betrayed time and time again, but still stood at his side. He smiled as they convened, gathering around, and he was met with tired, hollow laughs.

Tony retracted his faceplate so that he could see his companions with more comfort now, and he said, "Holy shit guys," He took a deep, gasping breath, "For awhile there I thought we were down shit's creek. Seriously, I thought we were all gonna die, or the city would be demolished, or-"

"Tony please," Steve began, "For the love of _God_ , shut the hell up."

Laughing burst out from the group as Tony simply rolled his eyes, as Steve began talking, "Good job everybody, and Spider-Man?" Spider-Man turned as his name was called, and Steve continued, "Thanks for your help. Much appreciated."

"Sure, no problem; You know me, saving the city and helping the innocent." His laugh was hollow and filled with exhaustion just as much as the rest of them. And Loki just shook his head as he looked at Wanda with a shallow smiled and she returned it, and it was then that Loki realized just how truly awful they all looked. Their costumes were ripped, there were cuts and bruises and blood and burns, and Thor and Loki did not doubt himself, probably looked the worst of all. And then suddenly they were all laughing, they were laughing in a coughing, tired, dry sort of way. This awkwardness continued for several moments before Loki sighed loudly, and Steve turned to him and said, "Hey by the way...thanks for coming back."

Loki nodded, but was too tired to say anything. His body hurt, his bones ached, and he knew that his ankle was broken. All he really wanted to do was lay down and sleep. But instead he simply sighed in exhaustion, and said, "When this is all over...I think we all deserve a celebration feast."

"Of course!" Thor exclaimed, suddenly excited. But he winced at the pain in his body at his sudden movements and then he sighed, as Loki had, and they all stood there for several moments just glancing around at each other and the carnage around them, and then Tony said,

"Hey, anyone up for shawarma?"


	16. Fate's Funny Isn't It? (Epilouge)

They sat in silence, some of them on the floor, others in chairs and booths and stools; the room was crowded but silent. They all looked rather terrible, bruised and cut and bleeding and dirty; armor scratched, dented, and dirty; and there were chunks of rubble and broken glass scattered everywhere. The Avengers sat crowded at a familiar small table in the middle of the room in silence; the only difference was that there was one extra chair, in which Loki sat. And it couldn't have felt more right. The all sat silently, crunching and munching on their food; the silence was not an uncomfortable one, and no one really felt the need to break it with speech; it was simply a silent understanding of one another as they ate together.

Thor and Loki alone had been through two shawarma already as they sat next to one another, and Hawkeye sat across from them dozing in his chair as he often did. Tony sat next to him, munching slowly, exhausted, upon his first shawarma, not even halfway through it yet and not really that hungry anyway. Black Widow and Wanda sat side by side, sleeping with heads on each others shoulders, food left nibbled but mostly untouched. Steve just munched on his meal and stared off into space as if he was thinking hard on something rather important, and Bruce sat sleeping on the floor against the bar counter, his transformation taking most of his energy from him. The rest of the room was filled with Frigga, Odin, Laufey, who sat at another table across from the Avengers, and the Frost Giants, Dark Elves, and Einherjar, who's numbers spilled out into the streets, and the poor employees who wore the garb of the shawarma restaurant ran haphazardly about trying to feed all of their customers, while also being rather afraid to approach them.

But there was a loud silence even on the outside; and he knew it was because everyone was exhausted.

"This familiar to anyone else?" Tony asked in a joking man, noting the similarities of this trip to the restaurant to the other previous two. Steve merely chuckled hollowly, nodding his head and saying in a voice that was mostly a whisper, "Let's hope it doesn't happen again."

"I can agree with you for once, on that." Tony stated as he yawned loudly, chuckling quietly as he took another large bite. After a few more long minutes of silence and eating, Loki sighed, and gazed up from an empty plate.

Thor seemed to pick up on something in his tone as he asked, "Something wrong, Loki?"

"No, I'm just thinking." And it was truth, he _was_ just thinking. He pondered over the events of the last few days in his mind, sorting through memories and emotions and such. He was so tired, and he had dozed several times while he was eating his shawarma. His eyelids weighed heavily, and they slid closed a few times as he struggled to stay awake, and it was hard to think clearly. There was a painful ache that radiated through his entire body, but he was glad that Frigga had taken the time to ease all of their pain. He still could not imagine it, and he honestly could not believe how these series of events had ended up turning out. It was not at all how he had planned, or even imagined that they would turn out.

But here he was, sitting in a shawarma restaurant on Midgard, surrounded by his former enemies and the mortals he despised so much, eating Midgardian food after making himself a hero.

He almost wanted to laugh out loud at the craziness of the last few days. But he could honestly say that he was happier than he had been in a very long while. Being here with them felt right; it felt to Loki almost as if he belonged. He had not felt such a sense of belonging since he was a small boy, sitting at his place at his father's grand table, eating alongside his family and friends...

Thor seemed to catch Loki's nostalgic gaze as he said, "I know, it's crazy isn't it?"

Loki nodded in agreement, but declined to say anything as he just stared at the table in front of them. Thor simply laughed, finishing off his second meal as he spoke once more, "You know brother, I rather like this."

Loki sat staring at the table for a moment before he began to smile, shaking his head in agreement, "As do I."

"So, _King of Asgard,_ what do you plan on doing now?" Thor asked, mostly out of jest, but the question held a part of seriousness to it as well. Loki smiled, looking up from the table out up out the window of the restaurant, at the clear morning sky, the sun turning the small clouds in the distance a stunning shade of red, and taking a deep breath. He pondered Thor's question for a few moments. What _was_ he going to do now? He had never imagined that he would ever sit upon the throne of Asgard unopposed. He guessed that he had assumed that when this was all over, he would be pulled from the throne, and then punished for his previous crimes.

But the fact that Thor denied this surprised him. But it warmed him also. He had no doubt that the All-Father would want to speak to him about these events, but he had accepted that and in all actuality, he wanted to talk to his father. He could not figure out why his feelings of resentment had withered, but he guessed that he was just tired of it all; he wanted to release it and to feel happy again. But he also could not deny that his brother, Wanda, and his new 'friends' had a large part to do with it.

He still couldn't figure out why they had been so determined to help him. But Thor must have had something to do with it. After some long moments, he finally resigned to answer Thor.

"I don't know. Go home, I guess."

Thor laughed, "Ah yes, that sounds delightful but, what of Wanda?" Loki was surprised. To be honest he really hadn't thought that far into it. He had promised her a place at his side, and he truly cared for her...he felt that being away from her as Thor was with Jane would hurt him also. And a promise is a promise...even if he was the God of Lies. He smiled and answered, "She shall come with us."

"Aye. And what of Jotunheim?"

Loki considered this question carefully, before constructing his answer in the best way he could, "I hope to establish more peace with Jotunheim. I'm hoping that we both could benefit from this arrangement, perhaps with trade or the such."

"Sounds like a good idea to me. They did help save the very realm they were punished for trying to take over all those years ago."

"Yeah, they did."

Loki felt Thor's adoring gaze upon him as his older brother smiled and said, "Perhaps Loki, you have still fulfilled father's wish for you..."

Loki turned to Thor, surprised. He had not thought about it that way at all, and then he was wracked with laughter. Thor raised an eyebrow in confusion at his younger brother, for he could not for the life of himself figure out what was so funny to Loki. After a few moments his laughter subsided, and he quieted, shaking his head with a large smile on his face. Then he turned back to Thor with a twinkle in his eye as he said, "You know what brother, I guess I did."

He laughed once more, and then suddenly the laughter was spreading across the table, and then he turned toward Thor once more, looking like the Loki Thor remembered with a smile he hadn't seen in a long time, and then Loki said, "Fate is funny sometimes, isn't it?"

It was funny to Loki. He had no idea how his carefully constructed plan had ended up with a conclusion such as this. It was almost unreal and he almost couldn't except his new found happiness. Hela had told him his fate, which he had shared with no one. He had known from the very beginning that he would fail; it was fated to be so. He knew from the very beginning that Thor and the Avengers would defeat him; he knew from the very beginning that he would bring destruction to the realms. He knew from the very beginning that he would lose the throne and face Asgard's judgment, and he knew from the beginning that he would be fated to be strapped to a stone and tortured for all eternity. And he couldn't help but think that maybe this change had something to do with that little black book.

But fate's funny isn't it?


End file.
